The first point of contact to your Practice The Telephone is one of the most used but least understood business Tool

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1 The first point of contact to your Practice The Telephone is one of the most used but least understood business Tool You never get a second chance to make a first impression

2 Linda Demetriou Demco Communications Ltd Established in 1992 Co Founder of Careline 4 Vets Support in excess of 1500 Clients Home Working SME Medical Practices and Surgeries National Enterprises Local Government and Schools Siemens Main Partner in London LG Nortel Main Reseller for London Industry Awards: Siemens Customer Care Award Siemens Solutions Partner Award Siemens Services Award Siemens Sales of the Year 2007 BSI-ISO 9001:2008

3 Access to your Practice 89.6% of all Appointments are made by the Telephone 91.8% of Emergency Cases, first use the Telephone 92.3% of follow ups from the Practice are made by the Telephone Probably this make the Telephone the doorway to your turnover and Profit??

4 Cost to the Practice Each appt is 50 Average (calculation on a life of an animal and on 2 missed calls a year) Average life of a Dog is 10 Years 50 per Visit at 2 visits per year x 10 years Average life of a Cat is 13 Years 50 per Visit at 2 visits per year x 13 Years This is just on 2 types of small animals you calculate the rest!!!!

5 Recent Survey Quotes!!! Do you believe you are loosing business? YES Because clients do not have to wait for you to be efficient, they can go elsewhere Customer Service Not enough Staff to answer more lines Lack of reception call to action Habits of people We only have 2 receptionists and they can only manage 2 lines

6 What you need to know How many lines do you have? How many total calls do you receive? How often are your lines engaged and calls go unanswered? How quickly do your staff answer and handle a call? Process of answering and handling a call? This can involve different aspects. Do you know how efficient your staff are? Do they offer appointments to each prospective Caller? How much time do they waste? Do you have empty consultation slots? What is the actual cost of an empty dairy? Can you afford not to make any improvements?

7 How do you measure your lines Exchange reports: These are available by BT: Network Call performance Reports

8 Indirect Networks Within our own billing platform we offer full Network Reports. These are important, as they measure the number of engaged calls and unanswered Calls Additional information such as» Peak Times of the Day» Out of Hours Calls» Busy Days of the Week and Month» Average duration of calls

9 6 Lines 2 Receptionists How does this work? Pro Active, know who is calling before you answer the call, this can safe 30 seconds per incoming call, with easy access to your Practice Management Software (PMS) Ensure your Back up staff are available to answer calls during your busy periods. Effective telephone system programming can easily manage this for you. Auto Attendant must be simple and effective with only a limited number of options, but use the technology to filter calls away from your Reception. Correctly train your receptionists on how to place a call on hold whilst talking to another caller. A professional receptionist should be able to handle the correct use of the technology available to her. In every other industry one receptionist is expected to handle more than one call at a time, so why not yours!!!! Dedicated numbers (DDIs) for easy access to various departments, such as Accounts, Referrals, Prescriptions, Pet Insurance and Claims If you are a multi practice surgery, then have your overflow calls answered by one of the other branches. Technology makes this extremely simple, and allows you to use all your resources effectively. Invest in a Call Recording facility, and use the information to enhance training with your staff. You can do this yourselves or use the services of a professional firm.

10 Seconds make money Lets take an average practice with 5 Vets, 2 Receptionists and 3500 calls per month. (average of 140 calls per day) on 3 lines Average call duration is 3 minutes, which equates to 420 minutes per day = 7 hours Auto Attendant/DDIs re routes 18% of calls away from reception = 25 calls per day PMS and CTI enhances by 17% (30 secs off a 180 sec call) = 24 calls per day Re Training on Call Handling will safe a further 12% = 17 calls per day This provides sufficient time that equates to 66 calls Per Day With 3 steps you can now handle an extra 47% in calls, which equates to almost an extra 1.5 additional exchange lines At this stage I haven't calculated back office staff, other branches answering calls and other means of communications between yourselves and your clients.

11 6 Months Later!!! Benefits to your practice Stronger bond between your client and your practice resulting in an increased annual spend per client and more client referrals. Increased revenues by reducing No Shows. Keeping your clinic running on time. Improved compliance with health care programs. Improved administration of medications and parasite treatments. Improved profits. Staff time savings. Reduced cost of communications. Reinforces and supports the practice s Standards of Care. Positions the practice as a leader in using technology to enhance patient care.

12 Sample Reports Come and see us at our Stand, and we will provide you with copies of sample reports.