Looking to improve your Opticians?
Customer experience and satisfaction is of paramount importance to any business. A study from HubSpot Research determined that 93% of customers are likely to repeat business with companies who offer excellent customer service. It’s even said now that customers are willing to pay more and even turn away from their regular companies, if another is offering better customer service.
On top of this, with more business being done over the phone than ever before, it’s also a priority for businesses to have a modern telephone system built into their daily operations. And this is no exception for opticians. Modern telephone systems do so much more than just make and take calls. Just like a smartphone, they’re now equipped with so many features that streamline and simplify the way business processes are done.
So, here are 5 ways in which an updated and modern telephone system can both improve your opticians, as a business – whilst also creating a better and more accessible experience for your customers. Let’s dive in…
Call Queuing
With Opticians receiving such large volumes of calls, particularly at peak times, an effective call queuing system is crucial in order to give your customers a seamless experience. Not only does this organise and optimise how you tackle your incoming calls, but it also helps make the customer feel like everything is in hand. Once they’ve landed in the queue, you can even set your telephone system to play music to keep them hooked, whilst playing pre-recorded messages alerting them of their queue position, current deals & offers, or even just general business information.
Auto-Attendant
When a patient calls into your Opticians, a well structured Auto-Attendant makes it easy for them to speak to the correct person the first time around. Also known as a digital receptionist, an auto-attendant greets your callers with an introductory message and then gives them a list of different options available. Most people calling a business have experienced something like Auto-Attendant. However, times have changed and the technologies’ improved a lot. No more screaming down the phone, repeating yourself over and over. And so, by having an Auto-Attendant that works quickly and accurately, this means your patients won’t be stuck in call queues waiting for the wrong person, only to be transferred to another queue. A simple-to-use Auto Attendant makes telephone communication a breeze.
Advanced Call Recording
It’s impossible to physically oversee how every member of your reception team handles every call they make, every day. With advanced call recording software, not only can you listen back to calls at any time, but you can listen back to them from anywhere. The software records every phone call, made or received, and stores the recordings in the cloud, meaning you don’t need to be in the practice to listen back to them. Use these calls to improve your team’s call handling and provide thorough staff training. Not only that, should a member of your team receive any sort of abuse, you can listen back to the call and take appropriate action. Enhanced and regular team training on phone-call handling will make for a much better caller/patient experience.
Bespoke On-Hold Messaging
We touched on this one previously but it’s so good that it’s worth talking about further. With On-Hold messaging, you can play bespoke messages to your callers whilst they’re waiting to get through, or are on-hold, awaiting the correct person. Answer commonly asked questions, promote specific services and remind callers of additional services your business supplies. Should your business receive lots of the same questions, answering these in your audio messaging reduces the volume of calls your team has to handle. Simple questions about your opening hours can be answered by your phone system before a member of your team has even picked up the call. Provide an informative caller experience, all whilst your patients are waiting to speak to your team.
Computer Telephony Integration
Potentially the greatest and most helpful feature of them all – especially for opticians. If callers have spent time on-hold, waiting to speak to a member of your team – being able to handle their enquiry quickly and efficiently is crucial to providing a good caller experience. With Computer Telephony Integration (or CTI), your business phone is linked with your practice’s Opticabase, i-Clarity or one of the many we link with. This means that when a patient calls in, their file will automatically appear on your receptionist’s PC. This makes for seamless data protection confirmation meaning your staff can get straight to handling their enquiry. On top of this though, with the patient’s file open in front of them, your receptionist can also greet the caller personally, and already know what their story is. No need to waste time finding out their patient journey, or previous experiences – all their information is already there and ready to go. This is also an amazingly handy feature for customers, who are tired of having to repeat themselves and their story every time they call in.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s a lot to gain from an updated telephone system. Simple features that can go a long way to improve your opticians. With one simple upgrade you can improve the workflow and daily operations of your business – as well as greatly improve the experience your customers receive.
All of the features mentioned in this post are available with our Optician Phone Systems. Yo Telecom handles over 250 million calls annually and has helped many opticians increase their success. If you want to hear more about our Optician Phone Systems, simply enter your business details in the form below and one of our communication consultants will be in touch to discuss how we can improve your opticians TODAY.
