A great dental implant scheduling coordinator is hard to find. If you are smart enough to have carved out this role for one team member, kudos to you! Many practice owners make the mistake of giving front office staff this delicate high-value task. In this article, we will cover the main qualities you should look for, and why this role is so different from other administrative roles.

Most dental teams are used to being order takers. Implant patients need something more. They have often neglected their oral health for a long time and are fearful and mistrusting. They have bigger income challenges than your regular patients and a slew of limiting beliefs, which prevent them from making this huge change in their life. This is a sales position that requires the skills and attitude of a salesperson.

7 Qualities to Look for in an Implant Scheduling Coordinator

1. Compassionate

You need someone who desires this as much as the patient does. He or she should be passionate about the difference dental implants can make, and should build value and create excitement for the patient. A highly positive, yet empathetic leader who will guide them through the long game toward the slow yes. Implant patients have more questions and are sometimes in pain. They don’t want a bunch of education, they want someone to listen to their story and understand them. They are looking for their next step, and require more than a 2-minute phone conversation about booking a new patient exam to utilize their insurance. You need a full-blown nurturer.

2. Internal Drive For Success

Conversations build relationships. A team member with a high level of personal and professional success understands this. This person knows that creating value for the treatment, and authority for the provider, even if the patient is not ready, will cause them to come back to you when they are. They should also be persistent with their touch-points and understand it’s a numbers game. Look for someone who is fast to follow up and follow through while the patient is warm about the idea. At Driven Dental Implant Marketing, our Virtual Patient Advocates reach out a minimum of nine times via three different channels to every lead that comes through. Your front office team likely has no time for that. 

3. Implant Knowledge

Look for someone with a good understanding of all the different types of implants, that can also explain them in a way someone with a low dental IQ will understand. Multiple options should always be presented, with a range of fees, so having someone who knows all the case types well will ensure that the patient feels well-educated to choose what is best for their unique situation.

4. Sales Experience

The implant coordinator role is closer to a car salesman than a treatment coordinator because the value is similar. High-value care requires a higher level of motivational interviewing and emotional intelligence. This person needs to find out what is important to the customer, use their language, and help them visualize success. Closing the sale takes as long as it takes. The coordinator needs time to walk the patient through all of their objections without rushing them or coming off as pushy. Carve out an hour, without interruptions, to ensure they do not feel rushed. 

5. Behavioral Change Experience

You need someone who will not prejudge based on first impressions. They should see themselves as an adviser or guide. They are really more of an oral health coach. Change is a process that takes time. High-value purchases can take 90 to 120 days of thinking, and researching for shoppers. Oral health is no different. People are viewing themselves more as healthcare consumers than patients now. Treat them as such. Recognize that this is a complex decision so by having someone that is highly inquisitive, they can go deep and uncover buried details to get the full story. 

6. Finance Knowledge

Highly qualified people are likely busy during the workday. And those with credit challenges probably cannot afford to take a day or even half-day off. These challenges have kept thousands of people away from the dental office. Due to COVID, people became accustomed to virtual platforms as a way of “seeing” their provider safely. Post-COVID shutdown, they expect the same level of convenience. Now that most people are back to work during the day, use that same virtual premise on nights and weekends for the best chance at reaching them. When hiring an implant scheduling coordinator, set them up to work from home virtually to save time and money, and to prevent interruptions like the phone ringing and patients checking in and out. Make sure they are willing to “meet” with people whenever it’s convenient for them. Flexibility is important.

How to Find an Ideal Implant Scheduling Coordinator with All 7 Qualities

This person sounds a little like a unicorn right? We know. That is why we’ve created an industry-shaking new program, and role, that will change the implant patient’s journey post-COVID. Every dentist’s dream is to have fully pre-qualified leads in their chair that become ideal patients. No marketing team in the country has been able to deliver; until now. A Virtual Patient Advocate (VPA) is a highly trained treatment coordinator who has a deep understanding of behavioral change, a high level of emotional intelligence, and the coaching skills needed to deliver only qualified and engaged leads to your office for a consultation. 

These are the same qualities we looked for when recruiting our rockstar team of VPAs. We hired the best of the best and those qualities are making a difference in educating and prequalifying prospective patients in our campaigns. These aren’t just people with dental experience, they are total Rock Stars with decades of clinical and non-clinical dental knowledge. 235 combined years of it! With Driven managing your online marketing, and these VPAs handling your leads, your admin team is freed up to take care of the patients inside your office. Less stress/higher quality pipeline. It’s a win/win!

If you want to find out how other offices are getting in front of new patients within a matter of days in any environment plus how we can pre-qualify them for you so they are ready to say yes by the time they are in your chair, book a strategy call before we are full.