By now you’re probably familiar with the scenario…

Phone rings:

“How much do you charge for X or Y?”

If  the marketing material does what it is supposed to do, someone will go to the website, dial the number and hopefully stop by the office. But for that to happen, the phone has to ring first. At that point it is “game on”. If a staff member is handling the call, they better be well trained in answering properly and they need to understand that their goal is not just to answer the phone, but to get the person on the other end of the line to come in and sit in front of the Doctor. Unfortunately, this is not what happens in most offices. Sadly, most people working in the front think their goal is to give information and to filter out who comes in or not. 

When the message on the marketing piece resonates with a patient, they will call and have some kind of a question based on what they think their most pressing need is. For example, “How much do you guys charge for an extraction?” There are many ways in which the answer to this question can go wrong. A few examples are:

• “It’s $285”
• “I’m sorry but we don’t give prices over the phone”
• “What insurance do you have?”
• “How do you know you need an extraction?”
• “Well, It depends…”

The only acceptable answer to this question is one that validates the concern of the patient. We may think that the concern is money, but the real concern is: 

• Are you in any kind of pain? (physical or emotional) and 
• How can we help you get better now?
• What are you doing to help with the pain? Is it working or not?

These questions are designed to move the money and insurance concern to a second plane. However for a very small percentage of patients, money is the only concern and they refuse to schedule unless they get a quote. Rarely someone who insists on getting a price over the phone is looking for quality service, most likely they’ll call a couple of more places and choose based on whoever charges less. So at that point, the choice is yours, you can stick to your guns and you can filter that person out or give them a range. To that you can say something like:

• “Because the price for the procedure is determined based on the exam and the findings on the X-rays, I could not give you an accurate estimate over the phone. You’re more than welcome to look around and if no one is able to help you, we’ll be glad to bring you in for a complimentary second opinion and you’ll get an estimate at the end of your visit”

If however, you feel compelled to try to help everyone, then you can say:

• “Extractions range between $185 and $695 depending on how difficult the procedure is, I encourage you to come for a complimentary evaluation to get a more accurate estimate”

Once again, giving prices over the phone rarely brings a patient that values long-term approach. If they come back, it will probably be the next time they need another extraction.