Summary

Prestige Smiles is a growing private dental practice that wanted to expand patient acquisition without making the phones another constraint on growth. By using Annie to answer calls and book patients after hours, the practice was able to extend its marketing beyond normal office hours and capitalize on a period when fewer dental practices were competing for the same patients.

Since going live, Annie has handled 1,497 patient conversations, with 18.4% occurring outside normal business hours. More importantly, after-hours coverage opened up a new acquisition strategy for the practice. According to co-owner Kurt, Google Ads clicks that cost around $1 during the day could fall as low as $0.10 in the evening, allowing Prestige Smiles to reach prospective patients at up to 90% lower cost per click while Annie remained available to convert that demand into booked appointments.

Challenge

Prestige Smiles was actively focused on growth, but its ability to capture new patients was still tied to when someone was available to answer the phone. Advertising outside business hours could generate inexpensive demand, but if those patients reached voicemail, the practice risked paying for leads it couldn’t engage when they were ready to schedule.

The limitation also carried into the next morning. After-hours calls created a backlog of voicemails for the office manager to work through, turning the beginning of the day into a process of chasing missed opportunities. As Kurt put it, “the phones used to be a potential hindrance” to what the practice wanted to accomplish with its growth strategy.

Implementation

Prestige Smiles brought on Annie to extend patient access beyond the hours its team was physically in the office. Annie answers patient calls, handles common questions, and books appointments around the clock, giving prospective patients a path to schedule even when the front office is closed. The practice also uses Annie on its website, where chat has become another source of booked appointments, particularly after hours.

That coverage gave Kurt the flexibility to rethink the practice’s paid acquisition strategy. Instead of restricting Google Ads to the same daytime hours when nearly every other dental practice was competing for attention, Prestige Smiles could continue advertising into the evening knowing Annie would be there to answer and book. The practice did not have to change its growth strategy to accommodate the technology. Annie adapted to the way Prestige Dental wanted to grow.

Results

The impact has been especially clear in the practice’s marketing economics. Kurt estimates that Google Ads clicks costing around $1 during daytime hours can fall to as little as $0.10 in the evening, when far fewer dental practices are advertising. His rule of thumb is that roughly $700 in evening PPC spend can outperform more than $3,000 in daytime spend. With Annie available after hours, Prestige Dental can take advantage of those lower-cost windows without worrying about sending prospective patients to an unanswered phone.

The volume of after-hours conversations shows why that strategy matters. Of the 1,497 conversations Annie has handled for Prestige Smiles, 18.4% occurred outside normal business hours. Instead of those patients reaching voicemail and waiting for a callback, the practice can engage them while they are actively looking for care and give them an opportunity to book.

The operational benefit carries into the next morning as well. The office manager now arrives to appointments that have already been booked rather than a backlog of calls that need to be returned. Kurt says “she’s appreciated coming into a lighter workload in the morning,” allowing the team to spend less time recovering missed opportunities and more time supporting the patients already on the schedule.

For Prestige Smiles, Annie has become more than a way to answer calls after hours. It has removed the phone as a constraint on growth, giving the practice the flexibility to advertise when acquisition costs are lower, capture patients outside traditional office hours, and start each morning ahead.