How do you answer the telephone in your office? We all have telephones in our office, right? And they're there for a reason. They're there to communicate. Or more importantly, to connect. Connectivity is the most important thing that human beings want when they're talking to another human being. Before a patient comes to your office, there are many different touchpoints.

Most of the good experiences that my patients have with my practice are not with me, but with my team. Part of connecting with other human beings is through the telephone. Telephone training should be a fundamental part of every practice. However, most people don't have a telephone training team to assist. In fact, the training teams that do come in often resemble outdated sales teams.

What do I mean? It's almost like you have a team of people at the front desk who are practically saying, "Please, no business. We don't want any business. We want to keep you away." How do they achieve this? By not answering the phone, and when they do, they say, "Please hold."

To make matters worse, they put you on hold and play an infomercial. Here are some suggestions I have: Answer the phone pleasantly. Train your team on how to answer the phone. Answer it within 30 seconds and avoid putting anyone on hold. Occasionally, you may have to, but if so, apologize and say, "We're extremely busy today. Should I call you back, or would you mind if I put you on hold for 30 or 40 seconds?" Give the patient the option to wait or be called back, so they don't waste their time. The most precious commodity we have is our time.

No matter who you are, you can't create more time. So, when someone's time is wasted by being put on hold, they get frustrated. Give them an option and then provide the service they need. Many practices have a phone tree. One practice I work with all the time has three people at the front desk but gives me four different options: "If this is about insurance, press one. If you need a prescription refill, press two. If you're an existing patient, press three. If you want to leave a message for the doctor, press four." It goes on and on.

I know how many people are in this office. Why am I getting so many choices? By the time I make a choice, it's been 35 seconds, and sometimes the phone tree restarts. It's extremely frustrating and wastes my time. So, I very rarely call a doctor's or dentist's office unless it's to someone's cell phone after hours, because the phone can be a source of misery or joy.

I have a friend who is a contractor named Dan White. He is very successful because when someone calls him, he actually picks up the telephone. He's in the roofing and siding business. Another friend, Pete Doyle, calls you back immediately when you call him, and he sells insurance in New York City. He is very successful because he gets back to people and makes a human connection. Often, in dentistry and medicine, we fail to make that human connection. We place people where we think they should be for our convenience.

To make matters worse, while we are inconveniencing them, we force them to listen to an infomercial about the great service we provide. I don't want to know that you're a great dentist or that you also do Invisalign, place dental implants, and perform beautiful cosmetic dentistry. I don't want to hear a sales pitch, because if you really wanted to serve me, you'd be talking to me right now.

Even worse, my biggest pet peeve is when the office is closed for lunch from 12 to 1 and the message says, "We'll get back to you during business hours." Isn't that when most patients call during their lunch break?

Here's another one: "Sorry, we're busy helping other patients right now. We'll get back to you as soon as we can." Well, aren't I a patient making a phone call? That's why I called your office. There are so many lost opportunities because we're not taking care of the patients calling us. A phone call to our office doesn't require a marketing campaign. The marketing has already been done. They're calling your office. Be there for them. Serve them.

We spend so much time and money on marketing, and then when patients call, we're not there for them. Don't miss that opportunity. A phone call is one of the greatest ways to give your patients great service. If you provide great service on the phone, they'll want to refer family and friends to you, and they'll be happier with lower stress.