Please listen to, then evaluate, the call using the distinctions presented in The TAFI Introduction™ before proceeding to our Evaluation. The main benefit of Call Of The Month is to ‘Flex your self-coaching muscle.’
» Click here to listen to November’s call
Call Analysis and Recommendations
This was a somewhat challenging call owing to the poor connection combined with the caller’s rather heavy accent.
In answer to “How are you?” the Team Member answered “Good!” While this was done in an enthusiastic manner, it’s always better to follow such a question with “I’m well. How are you?”
While the general tone of the Team Member is pleasant, her energy level is rather low with little variation, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm at the prospect of inviting a new patient into the practice.
She misses a number of opportunities to establish rapport, convey empathy, and exude enthusiasm. Had she employed The TAFI Introduction™, not only would she have done so, the appointment would likely have been made in less than half the time (2 or 3 minutes instead of over eight minutes). Time is money!
It is also interesting to note that this call is an excellent example of how so called ‘anecdotal’ lead tracking is of questionable value – the caller attributes his call to a referral from another doctor when, in fact, he was using a telephone number appearing only on the direct mailer used by the practice to attract new patients.
The Team Member could also be a better listener, as much of what she asked the caller to repeat could have been heard correctly the first time. We did like that she did not ask about insurance until later in the call. Conversely, it took until nearly half way into the call before the Team Member got the caller’s name (and then never used it). She did get the child’s name earlier, but that’s not who she is talking to, and is really only important as part of the appointment scheduling process (toward the end of the call).
Speaking of the child, the Team Member could have demonstrated genuine concern by, instead of assuming the appointment was for a consultation, asking if he/she (we never learned which) was in any discomfort, or needed any kind of immediate care.
While the practice has an on hold message, the quality of the sound is poor and in need of attention.
The Team Member asks “Where are you located?” which was presumably for the (laudable) purpose of helping the caller find the practice. Yet, she never got around to asking that, relying instead on the caller to at last ask “Where are YOU located?”
The Team Member also seems to resort to the use of “O.K.” a lot. These sort of ‘filler words’ detract from effective communication.
Note too how later in the call there was a prolonged period of dead air punctuated by background noise. This is why the use of a cordless headset (which dampens ambient noise) represents such a good investment.