The Pump vs. the Street
by Ron Greenberg (President, MedFocus Capital Partners) & Allan Zuckerman (Director of Special Projects, OptiCall)
"Joe the Patient" is once again calling your practice!
In the last three months, the stock market has severely impacted the nation’s economy in several ways, and none of them good.
As gas prices were increasing daily in the summer months, the average consumer made the decision to stop spending and limit their driving. More relevant to our existence, they also put off decisions regarding elective procedures for a better time. Those decisions ultimately reduced summer month call volume at the practice level and reduced residual procedure volume into early October.
The elective procedure market traditionally trends down in the summer months, and begins to pick up again in late September. This year the trend was similar, but the remarkable downswing in call volume reverberated through the industry in a much more dramatic way. At the practice level, decisions were being made daily on ways to reduce spending in an effort to simply weather the storm.
Unfortunately many practices reacted by quickly reducing their human resource talent. Many of the reactive decisions made, created a negative impact on current and even future levels of patient service. Phones went unanswered or improperly answered and consultation conversion rates decreased. Prospective patients that did reach someone became frustrated with substandard customer service levels delivered to them both on site, and most significantly, on the first contact over the phones.
Why? The simple matter is that practices were trying to do more with less. Physicians were worrying about the financial welfare of their business along with their own personal investments. Reductions in staffing, advertising, and marketing were viewed as the quickest fix. Practice staff members were forced to multi-task in an effort to cover the void created through rapid staff reductions. The ultimate toll of poor handling on every front is, of course, felt most by the patient.
There was also an inherent disconnect in the way practices reacted to the current situation in “knee-jerk” style. The correlation boils down to “The Pump vs. the Street”. “Joe the Patient”, for the most part, is not a major player in the stock market and correlates his spending based more upon the price at the pump. The activity of the stock market doesn’t affect his immediate sense of wealth and available funds. As flex dollars become available, and gas prices trend downward, “Joe the Patient” is once again considering moving forward with elective procedures. His biggest problem now is the availability of qualified people ready to speak with him. Lost to attrition, staffers are no longer there, or busy working to fill the multiple and immediate needs within the practice. Voicemail seems a ready answer, but doesn’t quite fulfill the need to get a client through the door.
Let’s focus on the good news; “Joe the Patient” is picking up the phone once again! It was not until the recent pricing at the pump started its’ downward trend that an upswing in call volume was fueled by the average consumer. At OptiCall Inc., call volume in the last four weeks has increased approximately 47%. Uncertainty on Wall Street continues, but the reduction of pain at the pump seems to be directly correlating with the recent increase in call volume. As we continue to Mystery Shop throughout the country, we are finding that 36% more calls are going into voice mail or are requiring a call back than before the current economic challenges surfaced.
The message here is that phones and quality call handling cannot be viewed as a dispensable marketing device. It is critical to recognize that in good times and bad, every call matters. In the current environment, it’s more appropriate to say, “now more than ever, every call matters.” Saving your way to profitability at the expense of patient services has never proven to be effective. It’s the equivalent of “saving nickels to lose dollars.”
Cost efficiencies are always important, but maintaining proper call handling and patient care standards are something that no practice can sacrifice in an effort to save a buck. If you don’t take care of your patients, remember that someone else will.
