17
Sep
2024
17
Sep
2024
As a business owner in the wellness industry, you are probably acutely aware of every aspect of the treatment or services you and your team deliver, as well as the many touchpoints a visiting client will experience along their journey.
How deeply have you thought about the client experience beyond the physical business?
Have you thoroughly considered the key external touchpoints a client will engage with along their journey with your brand?
The most important external touchpoint that is routinely overlooked is the Phone Channel. This is rarely considered from the client’s perspective and usually falls solely on the reception team to manage, with little to no capacity for oversight for the Clinic owner. By having an “office” phone solution in place, there is no way to implement standards and accountability, and no understanding of the team’s approach to client requests (unless you are constantly at the desk). There is also no option for owners to quantify, analyse or review this critical function.
Call Your Clinic
Have you ever called your own business during busy times or closed hours? If you have not, you are likely in for a surprise. The client experience through the phone is equally as important as their in-person visit. It is a projection of your brand, a precursor to the service to come. However, in most circumstances, these same levels you strive to attain on-premises, are not reflected here. According to one recent industry study, on-premises bookings make up 49% of appointments, with just 15% being booked online. This leaves a significant +30% of appointments coming through the Phone Channel. If you are not effectively managing this crucial channel, you could be losing out on a major revenue stream whilst also inadvertently harming your brand.
Managing & Measuring the Phone Channel’s Effectiveness
Based on this study, the Phone Channel is at least double the value of Online appointments. With this in mind, it makes perfect sense to move beyond a basic “office” phone system. It also makes sense to implement a strategy of how to handle client calls, which factors in the closed and busy periods.
In addition to managing this channel correctly from a system and process perspective, if the right staff and training are in place, it also provides two further excellent nuances that Online does not offer:
These facts show how imperative it is to have the correct phone system, call management processes, KPI goals and staff training in place in order to maximise this critical role.
Our data shows that Clinics are missing over 35% of client calls every month. This highlights the problem that exists, prompting the question, how do Clinics currently deal with this issue?
Current Common Phone Channel Strategies
If your business is relying on clients to leave a Voicemail, then you are only capturing around 10% of missed client calls. Effectively, this solution lets the phone ring out to the prompt and wastes the client’s time and effort. Current trends indicate that clients, especially of the younger generation, are increasingly reluctant to leave a message, and new clients even more so. This means 90% of missed calls go unchecked and potentially unresolved.
The Clinic culture can be indifferent about missed calls and often assumes that the client will call back. This approach immediately takes the initiative away from the business and places the outcome back in the hands of the client. There is no guarantee that they will call back and behave in the assumed manner, especially if they are a potential new client. The expectance placed on clients to constantly call back due to a busy reception eventually leads to client frustration, appointment slippage and even total loss of business.
Where there is a Voicemail message prompt, it will usually steer the client to the Online Booking address. This approach immediately tries to shift the client away from their preferred communication method and makes the brand less accessible. Always communicate with the client through the channel they have chosen. If they have called the Clinic, they undoubtedly want to talk to somebody.
Calculating Revenue Loss
Looking at this issue from a purely financial position, think of the value associated with only one client phone call. With the price of most aesthetic treatments starting at well over £100, the cost of missing even a small amount of client calls soon adds up. Factor in a new client and their “lifetime value” and you potentially have £1,000s hanging off an uncertain call journey.
Summary
Invest in the correct call management software, processes, training and strategy, in order to communicate with your clients in a proactive, professional manner via the communication channel of their choice. This makes them feel valued, which in turn, strengthens their affinity and loyalty with your brand.
Our Clinic clients now have a complete understanding of what is happening via the Phone and how well their teams are managing this channel. Each month, they call back and recover £1,000s in appointment value. In simple terms, they have invested in clarity and certainty.
If you would like a free front-desk consultation, please contact VOCA through the following channels and quote the Consulting Room:
Read it? Loved it? Want to share it?
