Enquiry tracking and patient funnel

The problem it solves

Some enquiries sit on a receptionist's phone, some in Instagram messages, some in a notebook. Nobody sees missed calls until the patient rings back, if they ever do. When the owner asks how many enquiries came in last month and how many turned into treatment, there's no answer, only a feeling. Without numbers you can't tell what to fix: the advertising, the front desk's replies or what happens after the consultation.

What’s included

One enquiry log: a CRM or a spreadsheet

Rules on what reception records, and when

A source recorded for every enquiry

Call recording and telephony set-up

A missed-calls list and a call-back rule

Funnel stages: enquiry → replied → booked → attended → paid

A monthly report template by stage and source

Training for reception and for whoever owns the report

Result

Every enquiry is in one place, with a source and a status. Missed calls show up straight away, and it's clear who calls back and when. Once a month you have a report on your desk: how many enquiries came in, how many got a reply, how many patients booked, attended and paid, for each source separately. Decisions about advertising and the front desk are made on numbers, not impressions.

How the work goes

In medical services I structured CRM pipelines and follow-up protocols for sales teams; in B2B sales through a dealer network I introduced CRM and reporting. In a clinic the job is the same: making every enquiry visible from the first message to payment.

Current set-up. I look at where enquiries come from and where they're recorded today: phone, messaging apps, social media, website, appointment book. If you've had the front-desk audit, I start from its findings.
Choosing the tool. We decide where tracking lives: a CRM or a spreadsheet. If you already have one, I configure it rather than push a new one.
Set-up. I define the funnel stages, source field and logging rules. We switch on call recording, with a notice to callers at the start, and a missed-calls list, in your telephony or via a suitable service.
Training. I show reception what to record, at what point, and how to work the missed-calls list. Separately, I train whoever will compile the report.
First report. After the first month we build the funnel together, check where the numbers don't match reality and fix the tracking.

What I need from the clinic

One person responsible on your side: the owner, practice manager or head receptionist.
Access to your telephony, CRM or spreadsheets, if any.
A list of your advertising channels and other patient sources.
Time for reception training, built into the rota.

What happens next

Enquiry tracking is part of implementation of front-desk standards, which costs €900 and also covers the standards and front-desk training. Once tracking is running, the report shows the step where patients drop off. That's what to fix next: reply standards, appointment confirmation, follow-up after the consultation. To estimate what those losses cost you, try the calculator. See all services.

Questions and answers

CRM or spreadsheet: which is better?

It depends on how many enquiries you get and who handles them. A well-organised spreadsheet is enough to start with: what matters is that every enquiry is in one place, with a status and a source. If you outgrow it, moving to a CRM is easier because the tracking rules are already in place.

Reception is already stretched. Won't tracking eat into their time?

I keep only the fields the report can't do without. In training we practise logging the enquiry during the conversation, not at the end of the day. That usually takes less time than hunting for a lost conversation later.

Who puts the monthly report together once we've finished?

Someone on your team. I prepare the template and train the person responsible, and we do the first report together. If you'd like, I can stay on for the control stage: we go through the report together and I point out what to change at the front desk.