An Effective System to Respond to After Hours Inquiries from Potential New Patients and for New Patient Calls that go to Voice Mail
About this episode
The episode discusses an effective system for responding to after-hours inquiries and missed calls in dental practices.
Most dental practices lose new patients the moment a call goes unanswered - and most don't know it's happening. In this episode of The Thriving Dentist Show, Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah break down the after-hours and missed-call response system every dental practice needs in 2026. Inside: why 95% of new patients won't leave a voicemail, the 60-second response standard, when Book Now buttons help (and when they kill new patient numbers), and the simple audit every practice should run on its own phone system. Plus the wake-up call: a $15M multi-location practice that was missing 1,400 calls a month with no idea it was happening. Bonus guest segment from Dr. Jeff Buske on the work-to-home transition no one in dentistry talks about. Want to find out how many calls YOUR practice is missing? Book a free Marketing Strategy Meeting with Ekwa - we'll pull your actual call data: ekwa.com/td Want help building the after-hours response protocol? Book a free Coaching Strategy Meeting with Gary Takacs: thrivingdentist.com/csm
People in this episode
Hosts: Gary Takacs, Naren Arulrajah
Guest: Dr. Jeff Buske
Topics covered
- after-hours inquiries
- new patient calls
- phone system audit
- dental practice management
- missed calls
- patient acquisition
Keywords
- after-hours response
- new patients
- voicemail
- call data
- marketing strategy
- dental practice
- call response system
Sponsors
Ekwa
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ekwa, Thriving Dentist Show, thrivingdentist.com
More episodes of The Thriving Dentist Show
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- How to Build a Practice Growth Plan That Actually Works All Year
- The Role of your Admin Team in a Thriving Practice
- Increasing Treatment Acceptance!
- Find the Marketing Gap That Will Increase Your New Patient Flow — A 30-Minute Dental Competitor Audit
- How to Make Every Year Your New Best Year!
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