A new patient prospect’s first priority is to determine if they trust you enough to handle their health care issues. While AI and automation have their place, overuse of artificial communication can sour the new patient relationship before it begins.
Hundreds of new companies have popped up in the last year announcing AI and automation services that rejoice in claiming that you never again have to talk to a new patient before they walk in your door ready to pay.
While automation can be helpful, it can be overused and become a way to avoid personal contact.
Things that can be automated include automatic responses to requests, immediate delivery of requested materials, and reminders before appointments.
However, aspects that should not be automated are those requiring personal contact, such as phone calls and answering questions.
Humans do business with humans they trust. And trust is only established through personal interactions.
Just because an AI chatbot can answer someone’s factual questions does not mean it’s capable of building any level of trust.
In fact, not being able to reach a human easily or getting shoved off into automated systems can alienate the prospective new patient and cause them to go elsewhere.
Having a live person available to schedule appointments, answer initial questions, and build rapport with prospects is invaluable for starting the new patient relationship off right.
A warm, friendly voice on the phone of a real person is the first step in the prospective patient agreeing to accept a care plan.
The older the prospect the more true this is.
Practices that attempt to deflect human interaction into automated systems often fail to create a friendly and inviting experience.
Of course, there are many more things to know in order to create a consistent flow of qualified new patients for your practice.
To save time, many practitioners choose to partner with my agency, The Customer Factory.
To find out if our marketing program is a good fit for your practice visit our website and book a 15-minute Discovery call. You could have new patients coming in as soon as this time next week.
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