Posted on February 24, 2021 in General
Automate Your Process, Not the Relationship
There’s no denying that automation is a critical element to scale. It minimizes the cost and time of completing repetitive tasks while increasing efficiency and productivity. However, automation is often associated with processes that are cold and removed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The trick is to strike a balance between human touch and automation to best serve the needs of your patients and practice at the same time.
To your patients, it’s the little things that count. Addressing them by their name when you call them and sending out personalized emails shows thought and can be key to your practice’s growth. On the other hand, bulk emails are more likely to be ignored. And, an automated phone system can make your patients go through too many steps to access the information they need, eventually frustrating them to the point of driving them away.
Personalization at important moments can motivate a lead decision. A practice that is able to automate its process while still making patients feel they matter will attract leads and convert them into loyal patients who refer your practice to their close connections.
Personalization Drives Patient Satisfaction and Results
In the same way that consumers are irritated by irrelevant messages, your patients and prospects become annoyed with impersonal messages that have nothing to do with care decisions or recent appointments. Contrarily, personalized healthcare produces results that matter.
Thus, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of who your patients and leads are, be there for them whenever they require support and deliver personalized engagements they expect even with an automated process. All this starts by viewing automation as an improvement to your processes instead of a set-it-and-walk-away system that helps you cut time.
The fact is, automation combined with personalization drives results. For instance, studies reveal that personalized messages deliver six times higher transaction rates than non-personalized emails. So, by leveraging personalization, you can make your patients and leads feel like VIPs, supercharging your conversions and growing your practice.
In addition, patient satisfaction is so important, and this is why: Every 9 out of 10 Americans reveal they would consider going to a different healthcare provider if they aren’t completely satisfied. One way patients say practices can improve satisfaction is by personalization, whether through text reminders, phone calls, or emails—the more personalized, the better. Ultimately, satisfied patients are more likely to stick around and even refer others to your practice.
When it comes to answering phone calls or calling patients and leads, your front office staff need to ensure they make a great first impression in order to encourage leads to book appointments and motivate existing patients to return.
Because calls are such a vital part of any practice, the people answering phone calls should be reliable and friendly at all times. In the initial conversation, your prospects are particularly looking for professionalism and clarity. They need reassurance that their health will be in trustworthy hands.
Personalizing your processes does more than just increase your revenues. Patient engagement and relationship building also grow. Patients respond to highly personalized processes, and you can take yours to a whole new level not just by addressing patients by their first name when emailing or calling them, but by also customizing content and information based on your prospects’ and patients’ location, interests, gender, recent appointments, and more.
Delight Your Patients with a Personalized, Automated Process
The more your practice can do to provide patients with automated yet personalized processes, the greater your likelihood of retaining them while creating future opportunities. To find out how you can personalize your automation process at every step of the care journey, please grab a demo with MDprospects today.
