Dental Chat: An Essential Tool for Growing Your Practice
Dental chat is a service you’re hearing more and more about. In fact, it’s not just limited to dental – you’ve probably seen website chats on just about every e-commerce site you visit, and with good reason. They’re a great tool for generating new business, and dental chat services can do the same to help your dental website convert leads into new patients.
Without a free online dentist consultation or chat service on your website, your patients are probably contacting you by phone or, to a lesser extent, by email. But both contact methods have drawbacks that can deter people from reaching out to you.
Offering an easy-to-use dental online chat, on the other hand, combines the benefits of each method of communicating to increase the chances of people responding to you and, sooner or later, scheduling an appointment. The best part? The voice on the other side of a dental live chat doesn’t have to be a real dentist. Chat services run by chatbots are a great way to instantly answer common queries, look up local practice information, and even schedule appointments online.
Not sure if adding chat is a good idea for your dental website marketing? Below are some key benefits that might sway you.
Dental chat is always there for you.
Chats can be made available 24/7, so your patients can always reach out to you, any time, anywhere, on any device. Now, it’s not likely that you’ll have someone from your team up late at night or during the wee hours of the morning to keep an eye on your chat inbox, but (depending on your dental chat software), you can set up automated chatbots to cover the times when you’re offline. Your bots can ask clarifying questions or provide simple answers, based on how the user responds to your pre-defined prompts. Patients don’t always need to talk to a dentist online. Free chatbots can handle basic queries and interact with patients to provide general information about your practice, additional information about your services, and offer pre-defined tips on how to care for certain oral health issues.
Chat means there’s no need to be shy.
The idea of picking up a telephone and initiating a conversation, especially with someone they’ve never spoken with before, can be off-putting to your dental website visitors. That’s even more true in today’s world where texting is becoming preferable to voice discussions.
A free online dental advice chat portal allows patients to “text” their inquiry to you and take some of that anxiety out of the initial contact. There’s a good chance that the first chat will lead to a phone call to answer a question in greater detail or schedule an appointment, but the option to participate in a dentist chat online can be a great way to break the ice.
Patients won’t feel pressured with dental online chat.
A live phone call can force one or both parties to come up with hurried answers on the spot. Chat options that allow patients to talk to a dentist online offer a little leeway since they give you some time to collect your information before you respond. That gives patients time to double-check their calendars and confirm with family members for conflicts before scheduling an appointment. It also gives your team members an opportunity to confer with the doctor and give the patient the most thorough answer possible for questions about treatment.
Dental chat services can help your team avoid distractions.
The more your patients use a dental chat service to contact your office, the less time your front desk team needs to spend answering phones. If those calls are to schedule appointments, then picking up the phone is obviously time well spent. But many of the chat conversations will be for questions from people who are still kicking the tires, including like “how much do you charge for a cleaning” or “do you accept my insurance.” Being able to answer those inquiries during the small gaps of time you have rather than dropping everything to pick up a phone call can add a lot of productive time to your day.
Chat features build authority and trust.
When someone has something they want to ask a dentist, free online chats are a great way to connect with those people at the top of the funnel. By offering convenient and easy-to-use chat features, you can provide top-tier customer service with instant chatbots when queries are simple and easy. However, you can also elevate their experience by allowing them to chat with a dentist when they need a real human’s advice. This real-time interaction fosters a sense of transparency and reliability while demonstrating your commitment to high-quality patient care. Patients appreciate the convenience and personalized attention, which in turn strengthens their trust in your practice. This leads to higher lead conversions, increased revenue, and positive patient experiences. It’s a win-win-win!
Is your dental office website ready to convert new patients?
Dental chat is a great way to help convert leads into new patients, but there are also other ways a dental office website can be helping to fill your schedule. Use our Dental Website Conversion Scorecard to see if your website is fully optimized to generate a steady flow of new patients.
