Increasing a drug rehab center’s admissions starts with successful marketing that creates a strong web presence. However, just having leads isn’t enough to increase admission rates. Excellent marketing efforts can bring in the calls, but if the addiction treatment center can’t handle those calls effectively, the effort will have been wasted. Answering phones at a drug rehab center determines whether the leads generated by marketing will turn into admissions.

To people answering phones at a drug rehab center, there are many types of scenarios that can take place. The following is one of the more challenging…

When Relapsed Patients Call Your Addiction Treatment Center

Relapse is a fact of life with rehab. For those answering phones at a drug rehab center, handling calls from people who have already been through rehab before can be a struggle.  

These callers will most likely be cynical about the chances of success at an addiction treatment center. The most important thing you can do is strive to change the caller’s perception of relapse. Although some people look at relapse rates and try to discredit addiction treatment, studies clearly show that relapse rates for drug addiction are very similar to relapse rates for diabetes and other medical conditions. Callers most likely don’t know this. Once you explain this fact to them, they can begin to understand that relapse isn’t the end of the road, but only a brief setback.

It’s also important to ascertain what type of rehab they have already received. The relapse could be the result of not receiving the kind of therapies they needed for their unique needs. If callers aren’t local, ask if they have received rehab treatment in their home town. If so, that’s the perfect opportunity to explain that it’s usually best to seek treatment away from their home environment due to its many triggers and temptations.

Such conversations are a way to separate your rehab center from the facility they have previously attended. There may be other competitive advantages that should be discussed as well. Perhaps they went to a rehab center that wasn’t accredited and your center is. Maybe callers are dealing with mental issues like depression and the previous center didn’t have a dual diagnosis program to handle it but your center does.

In the course of this phone conversation, callers who have relapsed want to know one thing—what can you do for them that their previous rehab center couldn’t? If you can answer that, you are one step closer to an admission.

Answering Phones at a Drug Rehab Center is All About Customer Service

Keep in mind that a startling 78% of consumers will default on a transaction or decline an intended purchase simply because they experienced poor customer service. When relapsed patients don’t hear what they want to hear from you on the phone, and if they aren’t treated in a way that they want to be treated, they may give up trying to pursue treatment again, which further endangers their lives. Knowing how to handle this phone conversation can keep that unfortunate scenario from happening.

If you would like to more information about how to increase admission rates at your addiction treatment center, download Dreamscape Marketing’s Whitepaper entitled “10 Things You Should Know Before Answering the Phones at a Drug Rehab Center.“ This exclusive whitepaper is a must-read for any addiction treatment center that wants to improve its conversion rates.