WP 67 | The People in your Practice: Understanding the Role of an Office Manager

Written By Whitney Owens

The Crucial Role and Benefits of Having an Office Manager in Your Therapy Practice

Running a therapy practice can be complicated. It requires managing diverse elements like paperwork, scheduling, and client interaction. Often, these responsibilities can be handled more effectively by an office manager. In an interview with Lisa Gardner on "The Role of an Office Manager in Your Practice" podcast, Whitney Owens delves into how an office manager can streamline operations and drive growth.

The Role of an Office Manager in Your Therapy Practice

The role of an effective office manager in a therapy practice extends beyond handling administrative tasks. It involves acting as a bridge between the therapy team and the clients. Lisa, for instance, explains her role at Water's Edge Counseling as answering calls, handling payroll, and office management tasks ranging from restocking essential items to mailing necessary documents. 

Moreover, an office manager who takes phone calls can enhance the interaction between the practice and its clients. Using empathy and creating a welcoming atmosphere during these calls contributes significantly to a higher client conversion rate. Lisa says, "How you present yourself on the phone matters. They don't see you, but they can hear you."

Identifying the Right Office Manager

Lisa's account underscores the importance of character in an office manager. The ability to juggle tasks, maintain a pleasant demeanor even in stressful situations, and effectively handle client interaction points to a personality that can ensure the smooth running of a therapy practice. 

Therapy practice owners should thus prioritize character during the hiring process. While skills are teachable, values and attitudes are innate. Lisa suggests listening to the needs of the potential hires and finding those who mirror the beliefs and norms of your practice while having their skills align with the job demands.

The Benefits of a Full-time, Salaried Office Manager

Transitioning an office manager from a part-time to a full-time salaried position can foster feelings of value and commitment among your staff. In such an arrangement, the issue of fluctuating paychecks is eliminated. Also, full-time positions often allow for extra benefits such as health insurance and retirement, which enhances staff commitment.

Tips for Therapy Practice Owners

One pivotal tip from the interview is the necessity for practice owners to support their office managers. This support can be in the form of stepping in to handle tasks during overwhelming periods temporarily or engaging in conversations geared towards problem-solving.

Creating an environment where employees feel heard and appreciated is crucial. This and flexible arrangements for a healthy work-life balance can create a happier and more productive workforce.

Conclusion

Having the right office manager can significantly enhance the operation of your therapy practice. Their role intertwines administrative duties with client relationship management, which is crucial to the practice's success. Lisa's experience at Water's Edge Counseling shows that office managers can bring value by offering empathetic listening, conducting smooth phone interactions, and efficiently managing daily operations.

While hiring, look beyond skills – consider character. And once they're on board, remember that they thrive best in supportive, appreciative, and flexible work environments. With these insights, therapy practice owners can better harness the benefits of having an office manager in place.

What is Alma, and How Can It Help You?

  • Alma - Your private practice support system. Alma offers clinicians the opportunity to join their insurance program, providing benefits such as getting credentialed within 45 days and enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. 

Links and Resources

Podcast Production and Show Notes by Course Creation Studio

  • WP 67 | The Role of an Assistant and Office Manager in your Practice with Lisa Gardner

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    [00:00:00] Whitney Owens:

    [00:00:04] Whitney Owens: Going in network with insurance can be tough, such as benefits checks, catering to the insurance company's needs rather than your client needs, late payments, and at times making less than you deserve. Filling all the right paperwork is time consuming and tedious, and even when you're done. It could take months to get credentialed and start seeing clients.

    [00:00:23] Whitney Owens: That's why Alma makes it easy and financially rewarding to accept insurance. When you join their insurance program, you can get credentialed within 45 days and access to enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. They also handle all the paperwork from eligibility checks to claim submissions and guaranteed payment within two weeks of each appointment.

    [00:00:43] Whitney Owens: Once you've joined Alma's insurance program, you can see clients in your state of licensure, regardless of where you work from. This is particularly great when you're traveling for amazing conferences or with your family. Learn more about building a thriving private pay practice with Alma at helloalma.

    [00:00:59] Whitney Owens: com slash wise practice. That's hello, a L M a. com slash wise practice.

    [00:01:55] Whitney Owens: Hey, friends, thanks for hanging out with me on the podcast today. You are on the last practice podcast with Whitney Owens. I'm looking forward to this series that we're about to do on different people within the practice. And you're going to hear from. Some team players at water's edge counseling. So the 1st interview, you're going to hear my, um, intake coordinator, office manager, all things in the practice.

    [00:02:18] Whitney Owens: Cause that's who we should start with. Cause she seriously is the backbone, the support of this organization. But before we jump into talking with Lisa, I wanted to let you know about the Lent devotional series. So I have put together 46 devotionals for every day during lent. Yes. I even included Sundays, which I know technically people say it's not lent, but you know, devotions every day are nice.

    [00:02:44] Whitney Owens: Um, so you will be receiving 46 devotionals and they are focused on the time and season of lent, but also being an entrepreneur and business owner and finding God in that process. So each Lenten devotion is about a two, three minute read that'll come into your email. They have Bible verses, stories, takeaways, and questions for you to reflect on and journal about.

    [00:03:08] Whitney Owens: So I encourage you to give yourself, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes each day to embark on this journey with me. And I'm looking forward to sharing this Lenten Devotional Series with you. So to access that series, go to whitneyowens. com, click the banner, says Lenten Devotional Series. You can also go to my Instagram account and there's a link in the bio site to grab that as well in my bio and.

    [00:03:31] Whitney Owens: Whitney Owens consulting is the handle for Instagram. All right. So looking forward to you enjoying the series with me. And then as you, um, read through those devotions, if anything sticks out to you, you want to share something with me, I'd love feedback as I'm figuring out, do I love writing? Is this what I want to continue to provide for you guys?

    [00:03:48] Whitney Owens: Other devotional series, like I could do an advent one or some other ideas. So let me know what this is like for you. It's an experiment for me and for you. And I'm looking forward to you being a part of it. I'm going to go ahead and, um, turn this episode over as you embark on a journey with four team players at WaterSedge Counseling.

    [00:04:12] Whitney Owens: Hello friends and welcome back to the wise practice podcast. I am super thrilled because I'm gonna be doing a series on people in your practice because it is our staff and the people that we work with that make the business so great. I get questions all the time on hiring and how to get people into the right roles and what are they doing in those roles and.

    [00:04:34] Whitney Owens: All that kind of stuff. So over the next 4 weeks, we're going to be diving into different positions at the practice, what they do at the practice, the good, the bad, the ugly, and maybe some good jokes along the way. So today I'm interviewing our office manager. Assistant basically, she does everything Lisa Gardner.

    [00:04:52] Whitney Owens: Um, how are you today? Lisa? I'm good. Good. Good. All right. So Lisa, this is our 1st podcast. So she's doing awesome. 1 of the things that's great about a team is go getters and people that are willing to. Do the things the boss asks them to do. So we're here today. All right. Well, why don't you share first about yourself, you know, your background kind of where you're from.

    [00:05:14] Whitney Owens: Sure.

    [00:05:14] Lisa Gardner: Yeah. So I am a Tennessee girl, um, met my husband who is originally from Savannah in 1997 and started dating in 99 because I was

    [00:05:33] Lisa Gardner: And, um, started dating, got married 4 years into our marriage. He said that he felt God was calling us to Savannah. And I told him that God and I had not had the same conversation, but being the good person, we were. wife, I was on board and followed him here and definitely know that this is where we were supposed to be, have two beautiful kids.

    [00:05:57] Lisa Gardner: I have a daughter who's graduating from high school this year and a son that's a sophomore and I just love my family and spending the time that I can with them while I can.

    [00:06:10] Whitney Owens: So, yeah, that's wonderful. Yeah. Okay. So talk a little bit about your, um, background as far as jobs that you've had before you started working at water's edge.

    [00:06:20] Whitney Owens: Sure.

    [00:06:21] Lisa Gardner: So I was a dental assistant for about 9 years during that time. I also helped with administrative tasks when things were a little slow in the back. So got my start on being able to talk on the phone and. You know, make people feel comfortable, but also got the chair side type of, um, I don't know, being personal with somebody and helping them when they are in one of.

    [00:06:52] Lisa Gardner: In an uncomfortable situation, not everybody likes to go to the dentist and just trying to make them feel a little bit better. Um, so really just got to enjoy working with people and figuring out what works and how to make people comfortable. Then moved here, became a stay at home mom, um, my dream job and then when the kids started to go to school, I knew I wanted to be able to bring in a little bit of income, but at the same time, be able to be with them as well.

    [00:07:29] Lisa Gardner: And so I started working at their school. And I was an administrative assistant there and then started, um, taking on more roles there and was moved up, um, to managing the office. Um, then my mom died. And realize that life is short and I wanted to spend as much time with my family and kids as I could. And so we pulled them out of school.

    [00:07:59] Lisa Gardner: I homeschooled for 7 years until they got to high school and, um, I don't know. It was just. Where we were supposed to be, and it all worked out and how I met you. So

    [00:08:17] Whitney Owens: here we go. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Um, and I, I love the example of how you're showing how. The jobs we have prior to other jobs, like, God's hand is in that to, like, creating our character and our talents and skills.

    [00:08:32] Whitney Owens: Um, this is kind of a side note, but. Was it weird to take a job at a counseling practice without mental health experience or, like, working at a mental health setting beforehand? Or you feel like you kind of learned that along the way?

    [00:08:46] Lisa Gardner: I think that there are things that I had learned before, um, but I can definitely say that I was nervous starting work, um, in a mental health field just because I didn't know anything about it. And I put a lot of pressure on myself to know what it is that I'm doing, um, and. Just it was scary at 1st and feeling like I was going to do the wrong thing, or, you know, I wasn't going to schedule somebody with the right person and that I didn't have it figured out.

    [00:09:19] Lisa Gardner: Um, and then when I realized that I was just having a conversation and I knew and loved the people that I worked with and knew where they were strong and what they enjoyed working with and realize that it wasn't that scary at all. It was just. It was stuff I knew I just had to get out of my own way to be able to, to help the people on the phone.

    [00:09:43] Whitney Owens: That's a good way to say it. I think a lot of therapists feel that way too, when we sit in the chair with our clients, you know, we are so consumed with our own insecurity, our own thoughts, the direction we want to go in therapy wouldn't really. All we need to do is listen and love them and it'll naturally come, you know, and and that's where we find healing for clients.

    [00:09:58] Whitney Owens: Um, so, okay. So, going backwards a little bit, we were talking about how we met. So, a lot of people ask me, where do you find a good assistant? And sure, you can find them in other places. But I also find that God brings staff to honestly. I'm right in front of me sometimes, and it's a real gift. Um, so during coven, I had an assistant at the time.

    [00:10:21] Whitney Owens: Christina was her name and she had started very part time when I had 2 therapists in the practice. And she just kind of took calls from home, whenever the phone would ring and when she started, I said to her, oh, yeah, you'll probably work 3 to 5 hours a week. It'll just be a couple of calls, you know, whatever.

    [00:10:39] Whitney Owens: And she had 4 kids, so it was a really good situation for her to be able to work from home and her kids were part time school and she was doing some homeschooling anyway. And then it just started growing and she was taking, I don't know, 15 calls a week. Maybe at that point, she's having a really hard time balancing all the office needs and the calls.

    [00:10:59] Whitney Owens: And taking care of her family and so we started talking, we need, we need to add somebody to the team. Like, how are we going to do this? And again, every time we level up, it's scary. Like, oh, my gosh, can I really do this in my practice? And so I'm praying about that and it's cobit. So I'm sitting in my office at home and Lisa's, like, the only person coming to my house, because I need it cleaned and she was cleaning part time so that she could be with her family more.

    [00:11:23] Whitney Owens: Um, and making that little extra income and I just look up at her and I'm thinking, why don't I ask her to come work for me? Like, she seems really amazing. So, so I asked her and what was that like when I asked you to come work for me? I thought

    [00:11:36] Lisa Gardner: you were crazy. Um, no, I mean, I was. I guess we had had conversations and you kind of knew what my background was, but here I was cleaning your house and I mean, I've been cleaning the office and cleaning your house for a while, but at the same time, it was just kind of scary and strange that you would even think that.

    [00:12:03] Lisa Gardner: You know, I would be able to be a good fit for your practice, just because it was something different and, um, you know, not in a field that I'd ever been in. Um, and also there was, I always hold myself to high expectations, I guess, and just wanting to make sure that since I already knew you that I wanted to be able to do what you.

    [00:12:29] Lisa Gardner: Wanted me to do, I guess,

    [00:12:32] Whitney Owens: yeah, and you blew it out of the water, like, every day. Yeah, I try. Yeah, so it ended up working out very well at that time. We moved Christina who had been with me for 2 year, year and a half, 2 years at that point, moved her into an office management role where she could have some more freedom with their kids at home and kind of work as needed.

    [00:12:50] Whitney Owens: And then Lisa took on answering the calls, which was great because she could keep cleaning. And take calls, you know, stop what she was doing, take the call. And I think as you're adding people to your practice, you might not have the ability to add somebody full time immediately, but then kind of pivoting, making transitions and really listening to what your employees need like.

    [00:13:09] Whitney Owens: Yeah, Lisa needed to keep cleaning homes and so if I want her, I've got to make this position work for her and it worked really well for a long time where you were that all feels like a haste to me now, because it was also kind of it. And, like, we were growing really fast, but you were, you did that for a long time.

    [00:13:25] Whitney Owens: And then Christina put in her notice. That was. It wasn't

    [00:13:29] Lisa Gardner: even a year. No, it wasn't. I started I started in September of 2020 and her last day, I believe, was June of 21. sounds right.

    [00:13:39] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Yeah. And Christina, um. Went to go work at her kids school, you know, she wanted more time with her with her children and she had a, I think, a master's degree in education.

    [00:13:49] Whitney Owens: And that was always something she wanted to go back to. I, I truly think when we were hiring you, she knew that the whole time because she was really helping me get the right person. So, anyway, at that point, that was when I offered you a full time job, right? I said, let's merge these.

    [00:14:03] Lisa Gardner: It was, I mean, it was still just kind of.

    [00:14:06] Lisa Gardner: Part time, I mean, we merged them, but it wasn't I still think that was when I really got to the full 40 hours a week and things like that. It was still we were growing, but we weren't crazy like we are now.

    [00:14:26] Whitney Owens: All right, so let's talk a little bit about what it was like when you 1st started talk a little bit about what you were doing, how you track your time.

    [00:14:34] Whitney Owens: Maybe some of those responsibilities at 1st.

    [00:14:36] Lisa Gardner: Yeah, so at 1st, I was taking calls and I would get between 12 and 20 hours a week and just really depending on how busy it was. You know, with phone calls and things like that, um, to be able to get additional hours, if it had been a slow week, I would be able to scan documents into therapy notes or create release of information for the therapist and just kind of making sure that they had what they needed, whether it was, you know, printing out additional intake forms and disclosure statements, making sure things were stocked, um, just kind of.

    [00:15:15] Lisa Gardner: Just making sure that everything in the office was running well, and, um, everybody had exactly what it was that they needed, whether it was paperwork or, you know, something as simple as a box of tissues for their for their clients. So. How did you track your time? So I tracked in every 6 minutes increments.

    [00:15:40] Lisa Gardner: Um, so if I was on a phone call, I always had my phone with me, obviously. And so I would just start my timer when I answered the phone. And then once I finished sending the last email for the confirmation and paperwork, then I would stop it and write down, you know, how long that call took me and just kind of do the same thing.

    [00:16:02] Lisa Gardner: Every time I was doing a different task, I would just go ahead and set my timer and just be able to track it that way. So that it was. I mean, I just felt like that was the most accurate and it's not like my phone wasn't with me 24

    [00:16:17] Whitney Owens: 7. I think it's a great way to do it. Yeah. And that was what had been recommended by my attorney.

    [00:16:22] Whitney Owens: And that's what all the admin positions have done at the practice is that 10th of an hour and rounding up. So, you know, if you work for 21 minutes. You're putting in 0. 4, 0. 4. Okay. I'm doing my math here instead of 0. 3. Um, great. Okay. And then, uh, maybe talked a little bit about that transition into more of an office management role and kind of what do you do in that role?

    [00:16:49] Whitney Owens: So

    [00:16:50] Lisa Gardner: many things, everything, everything. Um, so I still do take all of the intake calls. I do have, um, help when I'm. Feeling a little overwhelmed I have amazing teammates who are willing to jump in when I need a little bit of help when there's a lot of calls coming in or, um, I, I don't mind talking to the people I've got some people who don't really like talking on the phone, but they're fine with doing all the emails and sending all of the paperwork.

    [00:17:24] Lisa Gardner: So I know I can get them scheduled and. Then hand it off and let somebody else do all of the grunt work to to get all of this stuff out. And I do, I run paper

    [00:17:38] Whitney Owens: payroll payroll. You run papers to papers.

    [00:17:41] Lisa Gardner: I run payroll every other week. And get that submitted, um, stock the office. Um, right now, um, I don't even know there's there's so many things,

    [00:17:58] Whitney Owens: um, Lisa also does.

    [00:18:01] Whitney Owens: Um, she does have a credit card for the practice. So I did recommend that for people, but just be very careful who you're giving the credit card to. Um, I wouldn't give it to someone who just started working for you, but she handles all the payments on things. It could be psychology today or giving Comcast a call about something or.

    [00:18:19] Whitney Owens: Paying the water bill, um, she handles all that. Even this morning, she went to the post office and mailed off our Medicare opt out forms, you know, so she does a lot of the details. She's about to get her notary. We should talk about that some more, but we're working on getting a notary for all that paperwork that we have to do for the licensing board.

    [00:18:36] Whitney Owens: Um, so, yeah, so she handles a lot of the tasks going on around the office. And then, I mean, we didn't even go into this, but the therapists, therapists have a lot of needs, you know, and some more than others. And so she. Thanks. Answers a lot of their questions helps them navigate the office does the training as well for getting on therapy notes and our phone systems and our email.

    [00:18:56] Whitney Owens: And honestly, even with trainings, I'm barely involved anymore. You know, I come in for an hour help out a little bit and then she and the clinical director really take on the rest of the training. I think another, I want to talk a little bit about just the person beyond the work that I think when you're hiring.

    [00:19:18] Whitney Owens: It's important that you're thinking about character. Like, I always hire mostly on character skills are great, but I can teach you how to do things. I can't teach you to be a good person, you know, and and so Lisa definitely exemplifies that. And then, for me, I felt like it was important. I had someone that had a similar faith, which was very important because there are going to be concerns and prayers and things that we need to talk about what God's doing, you know, and I need to have someone who holds me accountable to decisions I'm making.

    [00:19:46] Whitney Owens: And so having. Um, Lisa's not only an office manager, she's really a confidant within the business. Um, and not everybody can have that. And I would say, if you can get it, grab on to it. Um, but it's, it's helpful to be able to say, hey, here's the decision I'm thinking about making and and I can get some feedback on.

    [00:20:03] Whitney Owens: Well, here's why that would be helpful. Here's why it wouldn't be helpful. Um, so that's a big part of our relationship as well that I don't have with other people that work within the business. So, you know, say about that. No, I agree. Yeah, we have a lot of fun. Um, all right. So. I think a question that someone might be thinking right now is how do I know when to move someone to full time?

    [00:20:28] Whitney Owens: Like, when can I hire a full time person? So, if you were not managing the office and you were just taking calls, do you think there'd be enough work to be full time?

    [00:20:40] Lisa Gardner: Taking the calls, sending all the paperwork and doing all that. Yeah.

    [00:20:44] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Okay. And how many calls would you say that is an average day or week or that someone would need to be at before they could hire someone full time? Putting me on the spot. I'm sorry. How many calls? Well, you're saying that we're there.

    [00:20:59] Whitney Owens: So I was just how many calls do we get a day? I mean, I don't want to I don't even know all the time. I would say

    [00:21:03] Lisa Gardner: we probably get between 10 and 12 calls. It doesn't necessarily always mean that it's a new client that's calling. Um, but it can also be, you know, somebody that's helping, you know, update billing or getting things rescheduled with another clinician or so it's not always new inquiries, but it's time on the phone and time taken away from.

    [00:21:30] Lisa Gardner: Other things, um, and so I think it's 1 of those things where, yes, there are slow days and, um. You know, it could be something that may not be a full 40 hours just yet, but at the rate that we're going, I feel like it's definitely something that I don't think it would take long to get to that point to where it was something that we needed a full time person for.

    [00:21:57] Lisa Gardner: Yeah, so,

    [00:21:59] Whitney Owens: so maybe when someone's getting to that point of about 10 to 12 increase a day, it's a time to be thinking about a full time person. Um, we talked about your tracking earlier and I didn't go back and mention this. You are full time now salary now, which has been, I mean, I think a good transition.

    [00:22:14] Whitney Owens: I mean, how's it been for you being a salary as opposed to hourly employee? Yeah, no,

    [00:22:18] Lisa Gardner: I mean, I think it's, it's nice in a way that I don't have to track every single thing that I do. Um, it makes me. Yeah. Know that you understand that I'm not a slacker and, you know, that I'm doing my job and not just going to sit around and tell you that I'm working.

    [00:22:35] Lisa Gardner: Um, that's really important to me because that's. Who I am and don't want to take advantage of anything. Um, go back to your question.

    [00:22:47] Whitney Owens: That was no, that was it. What's it like being a salaried employee? I think it's important if you can put people on salary, it does show that you appreciate them a lot.

    [00:22:55] Whitney Owens: You're willing to take that risk and. And they get consistent hours, you know, you don't have to worry about, oh, this 1 paychecks up or this 1's down. Like, I think there's a real gift in that because our bills aren't going up and down all the time. You know, we got to pay mortgage. We got to pay these things.

    [00:23:10] Whitney Owens: And so it's good for your employees to have that. It also offers you the benefits, the retirement, the health insurance. Um, and so those are really great things to be able to add in addition. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. All right. So, um, what are the things. People are listening, they're like, how can I grab a Lisa?

    [00:23:30] Whitney Owens: How can I secure a Lisa? How does how does this all work? Um, what kind of things would you say about working for me or within your role that you really love that? Keep you keep you going.

    [00:23:44] Lisa Gardner: I think 1 of the things that we were talking about yesterday is. I still have flexibility. Um, I can do my job from home if I need to.

    [00:23:54] Lisa Gardner: Um, I mean, Lord knows 2023 was the car saga for my family and, um, I was stuck at home quite a lot. Um, but knowing that I could still do my job from there. Um, but also having somebody that you, like I said, just a few minutes ago, can rely on to do the job and not worry. Okay. Are they actually doing their job?

    [00:24:18] Lisa Gardner: Um, so character is something that you mentioned earlier and that's really important and having somebody who has drive and you can see that they don't have a real lazy streak, um, because oftentimes those lazy streets kind of. I'm going to spread, I guess, um, so love that I have the flexibility to be able to.

    [00:24:45] Lisa Gardner: You know, work from home, or if I have a function for my kids, then I can, you know, do some of the things that I would have done during that, you know, during the regular workday. I can do that at home as well. Um, so having that flexibility, having the relationship that I have with you, I, um, I do cherish that.

    [00:25:04] Lisa Gardner: Like, yes, it can get a little overwhelming when every single staff member comes into my office and 1 day, um, multiple people it's a little close, um, but I do enjoy the fact that. You can come in there and we can talk and laugh and get things done at the same time. So, um, having that relationship is really nice.

    [00:25:29] Lisa Gardner: And you're not going to find that everywhere. Um, I think you do a really good job of, like, you said earlier, picking. The right person, um, because you can't change the person you can teach them, but you can't change who they are. And I think you do a really good job of just trying to make sure that you're finding a personality.

    [00:25:55] Lisa Gardner: That's not only going to fit with you, but for the rest of the team and building that community and family feel I heard something the other day and people were like, oh, if, you know, if they say that you're. Your job is like a family. You need to run. Um, and I just I sat there and I'm sitting there thinking, gosh, why, you know, I've got that and I cherish that.

    [00:26:20] Lisa Gardner: Um, so I think that there's some places that tell you that it's a family feel, but we've really got

    [00:26:26] Whitney Owens: it. I agree. I agree with everything you said. I think about that too. Sometimes I have to be really careful. I think some of it is about boundaries sharing people that don't have good boundaries, or we don't all come from good family relationships.

    [00:26:39] Whitney Owens: You know, but yeah, water's edge is really a healing place for all of us. Um, I think of 1 staff member who said that, um. When he left here, and he went and got his dream job in another state, but when he was leaving, he said, yeah, this practice was a light a really dark place in his life. Um, so so, yeah, I love that about the team and, you know, you didn't even mention this, but you definitely help with the whole interview process too.

    [00:27:02] Whitney Owens: So, it is about who I'm selecting, but it's also about you and who you're selecting because you get them started. So wonderful. Okay. And I've been thinking, I want to 1 more thing. Hopefully not a 1M more things, but we were to my calls. Would you like to let everyone know what your conversion rate is on your calls?

    [00:27:24] Whitney Owens: Do you know?

    [00:27:27] Lisa Gardner: I think it goes. I don't know. It fluctuates a little bit. I know I'm over 50. I think last month I might have been at, like, 72 percent it

    [00:27:36] Whitney Owens: was. Yeah, now, every month's not that high, but yes, I would say you usually are around the 60 percent mark. Um. I get this question a lot. So that's why I'm addressing it.

    [00:27:46] Whitney Owens: Um, people ask me what a common conversion when I say conversion, I mean, getting on the call with the client and then becoming a client, um, or just any way they reach out any kind of inquiry. Um, the average insurance based practice is a 70 to 80 percent conversion rate. But the average private pay practice is 30 to 50%.

    [00:28:04] Whitney Owens: So we are far beyond the average, um, which speaks volumes to you. And people always ask me, like, why can't trust someone else with my phones? Well, you know what? The truth is Lisa converts better than I do. It's true. And I think there's a lot of reasons for that. Um, she's also honestly, just better on the phone now than I am because she has a lot more experience.

    [00:28:24] Whitney Owens: She's done it for longer. She's honestly multitasks probably better than I even do. And so she does a great job. But, um, what would you say? Are the reason and I know there's so many things we can say here, but if somebody is kind of curious, what makes your conversion rate so high? Maybe we should do a whole podcast on this.

    [00:28:42] Whitney Owens: But what do you think makes it so high?

    [00:28:47] Lisa Gardner: I don't know. I, I think it's, um, I think it's how you make them feel on the phone. It's kind of every time I go to the grocery store. I like to use their name. I like to make them feel like there's somebody and they're not just there to serve me. Um, and these are people that are calling in a. In a time of real need and just making them feel heard and making them feel the compassion.

    [00:29:14] Lisa Gardner: My daughter is really funny and she tells me that I have my regular voice and I have my phone voice. Um, but my phone voice evidently can hear the smile. Um, and I do. I'm usually smiling when I'm on the phone with the person and. I feel like that just gives an additional comfort, uh, additional level of comfort there because they feel like, hey, this person's really listening to me.

    [00:29:43] Lisa Gardner: Um, and I talked to a guy this morning and he, you know, he was just saying how incredible it was and how kind, you know, how kind I was and how I made the process just so easy. And scheduled for family members at the same time. So, I mean, I think it's just 1 of those things where they feel like they are in a place of comfort.

    [00:30:09] Lisa Gardner: So, I really just feel like. How you present yourself on the phone, they can't see you, but they can hear you. And if you sound nasty, I wouldn't want to schedule with you.

    [00:30:20] Whitney Owens: I 100 percent agree when I sit and hear you on the phone. I'm like, oh, my God, she's so friendly. And even if you're having a bad day, we all have bad days.

    [00:30:27] Whitney Owens: You can just pick up the phone and be the nicest person ever. And they can feel you make it. That's right and people are in such a bad place when they call, like, they will schedule simply because you're nice to them on the phone and you provide that information and comfort direction. Um, the other thing that I think is so important is that you're answering the phone.

    [00:30:46] Whitney Owens: Sure. Um, and even what was it yesterday? You said somebody called and was like, oh, my gosh, thank you so much. And I think you had called him back. Right?

    [00:30:54] Lisa Gardner: Or no, it was actually the guy scheduled this morning. Okay. But more people, by the way, well, he called and, you know, he wanted to get his whole family in, but he wanted all of them to be in the same place.

    [00:31:06] Lisa Gardner: So he had younger kids and making sure that it's an entire family. They would be going to 1 place versus. Multiple places and trying to remember where they were going just to kind of give some security to their kids and knowing all of that. But, um, he was, he was so thankful that, you know, I was the 1st place.

    [00:31:29] Lisa Gardner: He had called that. I actually answered the phone and was kind and gave him all the information that he was looking for and then called back this morning and he scheduled. So it was.

    [00:31:45] Whitney Owens: Pretty awesome. There's a lot to be said for just doing your job. Yeah, you know, and and if you can hire someone who can actually answer the phone and be nice and get people scheduled and take the time to be with them speaks volumes.

    [00:31:57] Whitney Owens: And I think that is really 1 of my. I don't know if superpower is the right word, but it's, it's been 1 of the cornerstones of the practice. And 1 of the actual reasons we've burned the way we have, um, I think is simply because, because we do a good job on the front end. Make people feel comfortable and then the therapist, they do a great job too.

    [00:32:15] Whitney Owens: Yeah, they're pretty awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Um, do you have any extra tips or advice for practice owners that are. Maybe they have an assistance working part time, full time, or anything to say to help them and being a better boss.

    [00:32:32] Lisa Gardner: I think supporting them is the best thing that you can do kind of like you this morning, uh, while I was out going to the post office and you saw that there were some calls that needed to, you know, that had already come in and ask how I can need help.

    [00:32:49] Lisa Gardner: Um, it's not always something that. You know, they may not always need help, um, and you may be able to have days where you can unload some of your tasks to them and they're able to take it on. But being able to just support them and and help them when you feel like they, you know, you have extra time that's right.

    [00:33:13] Lisa Gardner: Just help them to feel heard when they do come to you with a, a need or, um, desire, or if they're struggling with something, just giving them a place where they feel like, you know, okay, she really did hear me. I think that is probably 1 of the biggest things that. In the different workplaces that I've been in, you know, you don't always have that.

    [00:33:40] Lisa Gardner: And I think that's really important just to make your staff feel like you hear them and you want the best for them. And I feel like, you know, that's. Supporting them in a really good way. Yeah,

    [00:33:51] Whitney Owens: thank you for that. Yeah. Yeah, I think this is also great. There's even more we could say, so I'm getting all these ideas of other things we can do together to share more about water's edge.

    [00:34:02] Whitney Owens: But I appreciate you taking the time to be here today. Yeah, if you're listening and you're thinking to yourself, gosh, I would love some more training, or I want to learn more about hiring an assistant. Please reach out to me, Whitney at Whitney Owens dot com. Happy to help point you in the right direction or even get your assistant.

    [00:34:18] Whitney Owens: Lisa has gotten on calls with other assistants before to kind of help them through the process. So that's always an option if it's something that you're interested in. So thank you again, Lisa. Yeah, my pleasure. All right. ​

    [00:34:48] Whitney Owens: Special thanks to Marty Altman for the music in this podcast. The Wise Practice Podcast is part of the Sitecraft Podcast Network, a collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives. To learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network, head on over to sitecraftnetwork.

    [00:35:09] Whitney Owens: com. The Wise Practice Podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.

    ​


Whitney Owens https://whitneyowens.com
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