Do you know what happens to new-patient enquiries after the phone rings? Advertising can bring a person to this point, but the next step depends on the information and help they receive. Reviewing calls is not about blaming reception staff. It is about giving them accurate answers, clear boundaries and a reliable way to involve a clinician when needed.

Why the phone is harsher than any other touchpoint

A phone call gives the practice a limited opportunity to understand a concern. The caller cannot see the space or point to a written estimate, so clear language matters. A warm tone helps, but it cannot replace an answer to the question the person actually asked.

Before choosing a script, identify the purpose of the call. A question about fees, an urgent concern, an accessibility need and a request to change an appointment need different responses. Staff need an agreed route for clinical questions, not a clever sentence that tries to handle every situation.

Friendliness and useful information work together. “You would have to come in” may be accurate about an individual assessment, but it leaves the caller without a reason or a next step. Explain what can be answered now, what requires assessment and what that assessment involves, including any known fee.

Answer the price question clearly

Consider a familiar enquiry: “How much is an implant?” The caller may be checking affordability, comparing information or trying to understand what treatment involves. Do not assume that asking a price means they are ready to book.

The team should provide accurate general fee information where the practice has approved it, explain what is included and distinguish it from an individual treatment estimate. If assessment is needed, explain why without diagnosing over the phone. A price range without its conditions can be just as confusing as refusing to discuss cost at all.

Answer what you can, explain what needs assessment, and leave the choice with the caller.

A price question deserves a price answer to the extent the practice can responsibly provide one. It can also open a conversation about what remains uncertain. Ask whether the caller would like the assessment process explained. Trust is supported by being clear about both what you know and what you cannot yet know.

Rewrite the sentence and the call comes back to life

The following examples are starting points for staff discussion, not tested claims about increasing bookings. Adapt them to the services, fees and appointment arrangements the practice actually offers. Have the appropriate clinician review the boundary between administrative information and clinical advice.

“Here is what we can explain now.” “I can explain our published fees and what they include. An individual plan depends on assessment. Would it help if I explained the first visit and its cost?” This answers the enquiry without inventing what most patients do.

“Would you like to discuss an appointment?” Ask before offering times. If the caller does, provide suitable options and make clear that another time or no booking is also possible. A choice between Wednesday and Friday should help scheduling, not conceal the choice to decline.

“The clinician can assess that with you.” If a caller reports being told that a treatment may be difficult, acknowledge the concern. Explain how they can arrange an assessment if they wish. Reception staff should not promise that a particular procedure will solve the problem or predict the result.

“What information would help you decide?” If the caller wants time, respect that. Offer the relevant written information or a route for further questions. State actual consultation fees and conditions clearly; do not imply that an assessment is free or needed by everyone.

A useful script supports an informed choice. It should work just as respectfully when the caller declines an appointment. If a sentence depends on urgency that does not exist, an unverified clinical promise or an invented claim about other patients, remove it from the bank.

The sentence bank: running it matters more than building it

A sentence bank is a short, maintained collection of accurate answers. Begin with the questions your own team receives most often: fees, changes to appointments, access, opening hours and the services provided. Ten is a manageable starting number, not a claim that ten questions cover a fixed share of every practice’s calls.

This is where most practices stop. They write the manual, laminate it, tape it to the desk, done. Six months later nobody looks at it. A bank is a bank because deposits and withdrawals never stop.

How to run it. Fifteen minutes at this week's front-desk meeting is enough to start.

The aim is to make useful information less dependent on one experienced staff member. A new colleague still needs supervised practice and a route for questions; a page of sentences cannot replace training. When services or fees change, update the bank before the next person gives an outdated answer.

If nothing else, the first sentence and the last

If ten feels like too many, do two: the first sentence of the call and the last.

At the start, let the caller finish, acknowledge the question and give the relevant answer. At the end, check whether anything remains unclear and explain how to contact the team again. If you give a staff name or contact route, make sure the next shift can continue the conversation without asking the patient to start over.

At this week’s meeting, choose two questions that staff find difficult. Write an accurate answer to each, identify what needs clinical escalation and practise with a colleague. Review what remains confusing after a week. The useful result is a clearer, more respectful conversation; count appropriate bookings alongside unresolved questions and patient feedback, not as the only measure.