Communicate Your COVID-19 Policies
The COVID-19 situation changes everyday, which means you may need to send urgent messages to your customers at a moment’s notice.
Demandforce provides a number of features that allows you to communicate your practice’s changing policies to your customer base, so that they can stay up-to-date on whether your office is open and how your practice will be adjusting to the changing circumstances of the pandemic.
What to do if your office has closed
1.
We recommend sending two messages:
First, we suggest sending one COVID-19 Update email template to customers who had an appointment in the past 12 months or have an appointment scheduled in the next 12 months, alerting them that your office has closed due to COVID-19:
Your portal’s Email Campaign Builder should now have pre-written COVID-19 templates that you can use as-is or edit to your liking.
Then, send a One Off Message to all customers that have an appointment scheduled over the next few weeks to alert them that their appointment has been cancelled.
Learn how to write and send these One Off Messages >
Your customers will be able to respond directly to any One-Off Message you send them. Their response may include questions, comments, and concerns regarding COVID-19 and what it means for their relationship with your business.
You can use the Two Way Text feature in Demandforce to respond directly to a customer’s text, or download the Demandforce Live app to manage Two Way Text from your desktop at any time.
Learn more about Two Way Text >
Learn more about Demandforce Live >
To Download Demandforce Live from your Demandforce Portal , go to Settings > Connect > Demandforce Live. (Please note that DF Live is not available for Auto or Dental at this time).
2.
Turn off any Appointment Reminders that you may have set up in Demandforce while your office remains closed so customers no longer receive these for cancelled appointments.
- In Demandforce, go to Appointments > Reminder Settings.
- For each Appointment Reminder Plan, you’ll see an On/Off switch. Make sure every switch is set to Off.
3.
Update your Business Hours, especially if you have changed your hours on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook.
- In Demandforce, go to Settings > Contact Information > Business Hours.
- Set each day’s hours to CLOSED.
- Tap Save.
This will update your listing on Demandforce Local, as well as prevent customers from requesting appointments during this time.
4.
Stay in touch with your customers through this time.
Keep your customer base educated and informed by scheduling ongoing email campaigns with Demandforce’s COVID-19 email templates written by the experts at WebMD.
Does your business offer gift cards? Target an email campaign to your most loyal customers asking them to support your business during this difficult time by purchasing gift cards to cover their future appointments.
In the Campaign Builder, you can schedule a campaign to target customers who have rated your business 4 stars and above, or insert custom criteria including dollar amount spent and last appointment scheduled.
Learn more about setting up a custom Email Campaign in Campaign Builder >
What to do if your office has remained open
1.
Announce to your customers that you’re still open for business.
We recommend sending two messages:
First, we suggest sending one COVID-19 Update email campaign template to customers who had an appointment in the past 12 months or have an appointment scheduled in the next 12 months, alerting them that your office is still open for business and what steps you have taken to ensure the health and safety for your customers and staff.
Your portal’s Email Campaign Builder should now have pre-written COVID-19 templates that you can use as-is or edit to your liking.
Next, send a One Off Message to all customers who have an appointment scheduled for this upcoming week to remind them that their appointment is still scheduled, as well as remind them of your new COVID-19 screening policy.
2.
Modify your Appointment Reminders to automatically communicate your practice’s COVID-19 policies for the customers you will be seeing during this time.
You can even use Appointment Reminders to help implement a mobile check in process at your office to minimize time spent in the waiting room.
Learn more about editing your Appointment Reminders and implementing a Mobile Check In Process >
Is your practice offering Telemed services? You can create custom Appointment Reminders specifically for customers who have a Telehealth appointment scheduled in order to include special instructions on how to sign in to their appointment. Alternatively, if your Telemed service has its own reminders system, you’ll need to turn off Demandforce Reminders specifically for your Telemed patients.
To learn how to configure Appointment Reminders and other Demandforce features for Telemed, view our Telemed Guide >
3.
Update your Business Hours if your practice’s hours have changed.
- Go to Settings > Contact Information > Business Hours.
- Update your new hours accordingly.
- Tap Save.
This will update your listing on Demandforce Local, as well as prevent customers from requesting appointments outside of your new hours of operation.
We also recommend updating your hours on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook if you haven’t already.