Our front desk reception services make a big impact in our clients’ revenue, time, and caller experience
Smile is literally in our name because it’s integral to how we operate. Our friendly, capable specialists answer every call with a smile… and your callers can tell!
Explore the first hand success stories below to get a deeper understanding of the real impact our service has on our clients.
Client: Jana Veltheim
Business: Align Massage Therapy
Years working with Smiledog: 4.5
Having all calls answered promptly has been the biggest thing. People don’t want to get voicemail anymore, they want someone to answer right away or they will move on to the next option. Getting a real voice to answer the phone initially and making sure someone is there to catch potential clients as soon as they call has been crucial to the clinic’s growth.
In all honesty. We did have in house reception up until the pandemic, everything kind of changed after that. Our in-house receptionist didn’t want to work, they didn’t want to take any chances and they left. That’s when we joined up with Smiledog. It was interesting because the staff themselves were like, You know what, it’s kind of nice not having somebody at the front desk. It’s really helped us create a better continuity of care for after appointments, where the practitioner themselves handle the few minutes after the appointment, it helps build a stronger relationship with our clients.
We have found what’s most important to us is for our admin to take care of the phones, not the small day to day stuff. So this makes the most sense and why things work so well with your service.
I think part of the issue for me is that I’ve gotten so used to not having to take care of managing in house staff and how much energy it takes to do that. Training someone new, sick days, vacations, payroll & the drama. It really takes a lot of your energy to deal with that added workload of hiring internally. And because your team already knows how to use Jane, our booking software, that is a huge burden lifted off of me because I know you’ll take care of things.
Oh, absolutely, it’s freed me up enormously! I no longer have to deal with the day to day nonsense that drains my energy. Your team helped offset the load for me and I don’t need to stress about my phone calls being missed.
Yes we tried another service but it was terrible. They had one designated receptionist handling our calls, but that person was not a pleasant individual to interact with. Anytime we called to check in and test things out, interacting with that receptionist was a miserable experience because they were always in a bad mood. This was enough for us to end that service immediately and go back to you guys.
Yes definitely, as long as people are calling my practice you will be the solution I need to help them. Honestly, almost all of the interactions that I’ve had with your team have been very good. It’s wonderful really. Your team knows our software, the messages that we get, you know, explaining, everything with all the breakdown, it’s all very clear and it’s really helped improve our customer service experience.
Client: Dr. Michael Nowazek
Business: Green Apple Health
Years working with Smiledog: 3.5
This is a very simple answer. No call goes unanswered during regular business hours. Since we’ve implemented your service, however many years ago, maybe three now. We’ve gone from a one month waitlist to a four. We’re very happy with the work you guys do. I have positive comments from the rest of my staff as well. The input I get from my staff about you know, the good, the bad. There’s nothing really bad, by the way. So really it’s a very simple answer to your question. No phone call goes unanswered during business hours.
Smiledog has let us focus more energy on the patients in front us at the clinic. The continuity and quality of care with onsite staff has increased massively. It’s at the very minimum doubled for us and because of that, anytime you exceed a patient’s expectations, you create a raving fan.
Anytime you create a raving fan, you create referrals. So how has your service impacted our day to day? It’s allowed my team to dedicate more personalized energy to our on site patients.
I see Smiledog as an absolute valued member of the entire team that we cannot do without. I know the realities of having dropped calls, so we spent a huge amount of time and energy updating all of our systems so that it fits your team better and creates a more seamless experience for our clients.
I cannot imagine what would happen if we could no longer use your service. It’s that simple. Even if I were to get another full time staff on site, I still need you. I never have to worry about phones again. So are you guys a long term solution for me? Absolutely, guaranteed. I like to think that we are all working together.
You take that burden off of them having to worry about the phone ringing, they no longer need to answer the call and take their energy away from the patient in front of them. There’s no longer this anxiety in their head like: “Okay, once I’m done with this patient, I’m going to have 10 messages to check on.” That’s massively overwhelming to my staff. They need to call them all back and begin a full new booking process immediately but now Smiledog has already done it for them. So you take that anxiety level of missing a call away and really reducing their workload. My team can instead dedicate their energy & focus to that onsite patient which drastically improves quality of care.
Part B to this, we know the stats of our calls. Repeat patient calls are anywhere from 1-4 minutes. A new patient call is a minimum of 5-20 minutes. Smiledog does all of those. On site patients come in and out and they need care immediately. Smiledog takes the burden off my staff and you do it very professionally and calmly. The amount of time it takes to handle calls increases my team’s anxiety. And once the onsite staff has that anxiety, it starts coming out in their voice and then the patient starts hearing that and then everything goes sideways real fast. Again, the quality that you are doing is spectacular because your staff is professional, and they take the time needed to deliver proper patient care. I continue to commend you and your staff at what a great job they do.
Here is one thing that other practitioners don’t or won’t realize. It takes a minimum 3 months to train new staff. And at that point in time, they are barely capable. It takes another 3-6 months until they are actually competent. And the number one driver of your business is your phone. So why in the world would I risk handing off our phones to a new staff person that’s going to take almost a year before they’re truly effective for me. Another great example, when my onsite staff goes on vacation, we bring in a temp, we don’t let them touch the phones. All calls are going to Smiledog. Right? You guys do such a great job that I want every single call off to you guys. There’s no point in risking the number one important contact point to your entire practice, the phone.
I never have to worry about my phones being answered. I have a colleague I am mentoring and she needs to dedicate her time and energy to that on site patient, otherwise, that patient is going to walk out unfulfilled and that’s going to leave a bad feeling in their head. Clinic owners can’t afford that because 1 bad experience and they will tell 20 people, 1 good experience & they will tell 2. So you know, she’s constantly complaining that all their staff isn’t answering the phones. That’s reality, she’s busy and so is her team. This doesn’t mean that when she’s done with the on site patient, she doesn’t have a ton of things to do. She’s worried, oh no, I’ve got, I don’t know how many messages I need to check and call them back to get booked.
Smiledog’s services help the owner because they never have to worry about the phones again. I never worry, is that phone call going to get answered? You’re doing an awesome job there.
Client: Crystal Best
Business: Be Well Acupuncture
Years working with Smiledog: 4
Smiledog has helped my business and practice grow in ways that I didn’t even know were possible. Previous to you I always had a receptionist in-house. So after 23 years of doing it that way and then having the pandemic happen, I had to make all these changes, I tried to do everything on my own. And it was just too overwhelming. So the fact that there’s no missed calls. So the fact that I have more than one person always answering is super beneficial for me. People really appreciate that and so do I. And it reflects wonderfully on my business.
The fact that I have call outs done quickly by Melissa or Lynn, is by far the one of the best things that’s happened to my business, the fact that I can see a message come in right after the call or have you add a patient on my waitlist, it just makes my patients happy. They’re friendly, efficient, and empathetic and always make sure all of my clients feel like number one. It gives me the opportunity to focus on patient care for the clients in front of me. You’re such a wonderful buffer and I get the peace of mind knowing that my practice is taking care even when I’m on holiday.
Oh, no, never. I don’t need to worry anymore that “so and so” doesn’t show up to work. I don’t have to go into crisis mode to start the day anymore, all I have to do is show up and focus on the 25 patients I’m seeing and supporting them.
My clients need consistency. So when they would arrive, and my in house staff was “out sick” it throws off their experience and increases their anxiety. Where now the way that things run, people know that if they have a question, call Smiledog. Everything is just more efficient now.
I can see more patients than if I had a physical receptionist, because I’m not missing calls. I had to give them an hour for lunch, two 15 minute breaks, all with pay. I had to take holidays when they took holidays and pay them for those holidays. I had to hope they would come to work on time. Like it’s just freed up peace of mind throughout my day to day. It was like it was a leap of faith choosing you, but I’m glad I did. I think anybody who’s a business owner, micromanages some & has a little bit of control freak in them, so it’s naturally hard to let this part of our business go.
Oh yes, don’t leave!
I’ve eaten the same breakfast for 35 years and it just works. Same as you, it just works and represents me as well as makes my patients so happy. You guys just rock… I don’t want to change anything. It’s working really well for me.
I think it’s like anything, is that it’s the fear of the unknown. It’s trusting the process, you guys were pretty transparent about that in the beginning, there’s going to be some room for growth and improvement. It’s really important to be very clear and concise in the communication and you guys are really good at coming back and asking – ”So what exactly do you mean by this?” and making sure it’s all clear. I had 80 people on my waitlist and I was trying to run a practice and help people through their mental health crises. I was just trying to find my groove, but I was working until 1 or 2 in the morning. It was not sustainable. I knew I needed help and you guys lifted the weight off my shoulders.
Let’s talk about what we can do for you.
