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Fail to train and support your receptionists and you’ll put your bottom line at risk. But get it right and you’ll unlock the real value of a high-performing reception team. By Shane Conroy
While your reception team is often among the lowest-paid employees in your practice, they may hold the keys to its success—or failure. This is a contradiction that often goes overlooked in busy dental practices as many receptionists are left to learn the job on the fly, without the training, communication, or tools to be effective.
“Your receptionists can absolutely make or break your practice,” warns Ameena Basile, an experienced practice management consultant and the co-founder of Dental Business Mastery. “The front desk is the first point of contact, and if a patient’s first experience is negative—on the phone or in person—they’re unlikely to return.”
And while you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, putting patients at ease is only the beginning for successful reception teams. Basile explains that dentists who see their reception team as merely a call-taking service are missing out on the real impact they can have on the bottom line.
“Receptionists are not just managing appointments; they’re converting marketing efforts into paying patients, following up on incomplete treatments, and building patient relationships,” she says. “Without them, your business has huge holes.”
Value your receptionists
If you want value from your receptionists, you need to make them feel valued. Dr Alex Davies is principal dentist and owner of Admire Dentistry, with clinics in Arana Hills and Samford Village in Brisbane. She employs a team of three receptionists and a practice manager, and points out that receptionists often aren’t made aware of their critical role in the overall success of the practice.
I make it clear to my reception team how their efforts impact the business. If a receptionist doesn’t understand how vital they are, it’s on us as leaders to communicate that.
Dr Alex Davies, owner, Admire Dentistry
Thus they may not fully comprehend the important role they play day-to-day—and the power they hold to influence the patient experience.
“I make it clear to my reception team how their efforts impact the business,” says Dr Davies. “If a receptionist doesn’t understand how vital they are, it’s on us as leaders to communicate that. Receptionists have the ability to create a positive patient experience. When they feel empowered, trained, and supported, they’ll go above and beyond for your patients and your practice. And when they understand their role in the practice’s success, they become one of the strongest assets you have.”
Build a solid foundation
Dr Davies says that a lack of training and support without proper onboarding or ongoing guidance is perhaps the most common mistake dentists make when it comes to managing their front desk.
“If you throw a receptionist into the deep end without support, they’ll struggle, get overwhelmed, and eventually leave,” she says. “We train our receptionists intensively at first. Our practice manager is with them almost 100 per cent of the time at the start to provide hands-on support. By investing time in this intensive training, we’re able to build their skills and trust. It’s only after that foundation is solid that we step back and give them autonomy.”
Dr Davies adds that her practices give their receptionists a regularly updated visual training manual that includes checklists and screenshots. They also require them to complete the Dental Reception Mastery course provided by Dental Business Mastery.
Receptionists are not just managing appointments; they’re converting marketing efforts into paying patients, following up on incomplete treatments, and building patient relationships. Without them, your business has huge holes.
Ameena Basile, co-founder, Dental Business Mastery
“In addition to the course, we also offer ongoing support for receptionists with Academy Chat,” Basile explains. “It’s a hub for our training videos and resources, and includes an AI-powered chatbot that can sit on the receptionist’s screen and answer questions like, ‘How do I manage patients that continuously fail to attend appointments?’ or ‘Can you compose a letter to send to a patient who constantly breaks appointments?’”
Level-up with the right tools
A well trained reception team can also play a key role in patient compliance and retention. Basile says receptionists should be responsible for rebooking, and need to be trained to manage and maintain a database so they can be proactive in reminding patients about follow-ups and keeping the schedule full.
Dr Davies builds this into the daily goals list that her practice manager makes for the receptionists. “The goals lists help our receptionists learn what must be done today versus what can wait until tomorrow. That prioritisation is key, especially when receptionists are juggling phone calls, patient questions, and big treatment bookings.”
Support with structured communication
Scheduling inefficiencies also often fall under the remit of the reception team. Poorly managed appointment books can create bottlenecks, stress the team, frustrate patients—and negatively impact profitability.
To get appointment blocking right, receptionists must clearly understand a relatively complex matrix of moving parts. Dr Davies says some dentists make the mistake of expecting receptionists to manage appointment blocking without the ongoing communication and support that’s critical to get it right.
“Appointment blocking really should be a team effort across the practice, and the only real way to manage it effectively is with structured, daily communication. For example, we talk about appointment blocking every day as a team in our morning huddles to ensure we’re all on the same page. I also get all of my reception staff to write an end-of-day email to flag tomorrow’s bookings, cancellations, or anything that needs to be raised in the morning huddle. That has been a game changer.”
