What to Say When a Patient Asks for a Price Over Messenger: Sample Replies for Philippine Clinics
Jen opens the clinic Page at 8:15 on a Monday and finds three price questions from the weekend.
Magkano po cleaning?
Hm po braces?
(a photo of a back tooth with a dark spot) Magkano po ipaayos ito?
They read like one question asked three times, and each needs a different reply. The cleaning has one price. Braces have a range, and the real figure comes after the dentist sees her. The photo can't be priced from a chat at all, and if Jen tries, she's guessing at a diagnosis.
Most clinics send all three the same thing: a bare number, "PM po for price", or "please call the clinic." Each of those loses patients, for different reasons. Here's a reply for each kind, with the reason behind it, so whoever is on the inbox can handle the one that isn't on this list.
The short version
- Before you write any reply, sort your services into three kinds: a fixed price, a range the patient can narrow down in the chat, and a price only the dentist can set after an exam.
- Every reply has a number in it. "Depende po" still comes with a range.
- Every reply ends with one easy question, usually a choice between two open times.
- Ask one question at most before you give a figure. In a chat, a question where the price should be reads like you're avoiding it.
- Don't haggle, and never call anything a promo. The dentists' Code of Ethics rules out promotional rates. Senior citizen and PWD discounts are a different matter. The law requires them, so say so.
- Never quote a price off a photo. Offer the consultation instead.
- Write each reply once, save it in Meta Business Suite, and have everyone on the inbox send the same one.
Sort your services into three kinds first
What the patient typed matters less than what kind of price you're quoting. Here's the sheet for Smile & Skin Clinic, the example clinic we use on this blog. Its figures are made up for this article, so put your own in.
| Kind of price | What it depends on | Examples | What the reply gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed | Nothing. Everyone pays the same | Cleaning ₱1,500. Consultation ₱500 | The price, how long it takes, two open times |
| A range she can narrow | Something she can tell you in the chat | Fillings, ₱800 to ₱1,500 per tooth depending on size | The range, what moves it, one question |
| Set by the dentist | Something only an exam can show | Braces, root canal, dentures | The full range, why it varies, the consultation price, two open times |
If this isn't written down, the receptionist decides which kind it is in her head every time a message comes in, and two people on the same inbox decide differently. Fill in the sheet once and the decision is made for everyone.
Fixed prices: the number, then a time
This is the easy one, and we went through it in detail in why patients message but never book. Give the price, how long it takes, two times that are genuinely open, and one question back:
Hi po! ₱1,500 po ang cleaning, mga 45 minutes. May bakante po kami bukas ng 10:00 AM at 2:30 PM. Alin po ang mas okay sa inyo?
What you're avoiding is the bare number. "₱1,500 po." answers the question, ends the conversation, and hands her a figure to hold up against the next clinic's.
Ranges: give the range and ask one question
Fillings, a simple extraction, anything where the price turns on something the patient already knows. The pull here is to ask before answering:
Ilang ngipin po? Saan banda? Sa harap po ba o sa likod?
That's three questions and no number. From her side, it looks like the clinic doesn't want to say the price, and some people stop right there.
Put the range and the question in the same message:
Hi po! Ang pasta po sa amin ay ₱800 to ₱1,500 per tooth, depende sa laki. Ilang ngipin po ang ipapa-pasta?
Even if she never answers, she has a number to think about. When she does answer, narrow it down and offer times:
Kung isa lang po at maliit, nasa ₱800 po. Ang dentist pa rin po ang magko-confirm kapag nakita na niya. May bakante po kami Thursday 3:00 PM at Saturday 10:00 AM. Alin po ang okay?
A lot of the advice on price questions comes from American dental phone scripts, which tell receptionists to ask a few questions about the patient's situation before quoting. That makes sense on a call. She's already on the line, and three questions take thirty seconds. On Messenger, each question is a round trip. She might be typing at 10 PM, with two other clinics' replies in the same inbox. So ask one question, and always send the number with it.
Prices the dentist sets: braces, root canals, dentures
Clinics get these wrong in two opposite directions.
Some won't give any figure at all. "Depende po sa case, consult po muna." That's true, and it leaves her with nothing to go on, so she asks the clinic down the road, which names a number.
Others quote the bottom of the range. "Braces starts at ₱45,000 po." She comes in expecting ₱45,000, the dentist quotes ₱65,000 for her case, and she feels baited, even though nobody lied to her.
The reply that works gives the whole range, says what decides it, and makes the consultation the next step, with its own price:
Hi po! Ang metal braces po sa amin ay ₱45,000 to ₱70,000, depende sa case. Ang dentist po ang magbibigay ng exact price after ng consultation, kasi kailangan muna niyang makita ang ngipin ninyo. ₱500 po ang consultation, mga 30 minutes. May bakante po kami Thursday 11:00 AM at Saturday 9:00 AM. Alin po ang gusto ninyo?
"The dentist gives the exact price" isn't a stalling line. The Code of Ethics for Philippine dentists, adopted by the Board of Dentistry under Board Resolution No. 14, series of 2008, says in Section 5 that the dentist sets fees based on the nature of the case and the skill and materials it takes, and must discuss the treatment plan, the options and their fees with the patient. A receptionist who quotes a final braces price in a chat is making a call that belongs to the dentist.
Quote the range you really charge, top included, because the top is what prevents the "starts at" surprise. And say what the consultation costs. "Consult po muna" with no price attached just sets up the next price question.
What patients ask after the price
The first price question usually isn't the last. Here's what tends to come next, and what to send back.
"Price po?" with nothing else
This usually comes from an ad, or from someone who tapped a button on your Page, and you don't know yet what she wants. Ask, but put your two most-asked prices in the same message so she gets numbers either way:
Hi po! Para saan po, cleaning, pasta, braces, o iba pa? Para may idea po kayo, ₱1,500 ang cleaning at ₱500 ang consultation.
If "price po" showed up as a comment under a post rather than a message, Meta's rules are different. You get one private reply, sent within seven days. Converting Facebook leads into appointments covers what to put in it.
"May discount po ba?" or "Last price na po?"
Don't haggle in the chat, and don't make up a promo to save the booking. Section 19.3 of the same Code says offering "Promotional Rates" shall not be allowed in the practice of the dental profession.
There is a discount the law requires, though, and some of the people asking are asking about that one. Under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, RA 9994, seniors get 20% off medical and dental services at private outpatient clinics. RA 10754 gives persons with disabilities 20% off medical and dental services at private medical facilities. So the honest answer is no to a promo and yes to the law:
Wala po kaming promo, pero may 20% discount po para sa senior citizens at PWD, dalhin lang po ang ID. Para sa inyo po ba ang appointment?
Anyone else asking for a last price gets the same price, said kindly, with a time attached. If she was only ever going to book the cheapest clinic, you've found that out in one message.
"Bakit ang mahal? Sa kabila ₱800 lang."
Don't argue, and don't say anything about the other clinic. Section 19.1 of the Code asks dentists to use only fair means and not to injure other practitioners' opportunities, and a screenshot of your front desk calling another clinic cheap gets around. Say what your price includes in one line, then leave the door open:
Naiintindihan po namin. Kasama na po sa ₱1,500 ang check-up ng dentist bago ang cleaning. Kung gusto niyo pa rin pong subukan sa amin, may bakante pa kami bukas ng 2:30 PM.
Keep it to one line. A paragraph about your autoclave and your dentist's training reads as defensive, and she didn't ask for it.
"Pwede po ba installment?"
If you offer terms, spell them out. "Pwede po, usap na lang tayo sa clinic" sounds like a maybe, and she'd have to come in to find out which way it goes.
Yes po. Sa braces, ₱10,000 po ang downpayment sa araw ng kabit, tapos ₱2,000 kada adjustment hanggang mabayaran ang total. Ang dentist po ang magsasabi ng total after ng consultation.
If you don't offer installment, say so in the first reply, along with what you do accept, such as GCash or card. Don't let her find out at the counter.
"Covered po ba ng HMO ko?"
Find out which HMO before anything else. If you're not accredited with it, tell her now rather than at the counter.
Anong HMO po kayo? Kung accredited po kami sa HMO ninyo, iche-check namin with them kung ano ang covered sa plan ninyo bago mag-start.
What's covered depends on her plan, and only the HMO can say, so nobody at the front desk should be guessing.
A photo of a tooth: "Magkano po ipaayos ito?"
Don't price it, and don't guess what's wrong with it. "Mukhang root canal na po yan" from the front desk is a diagnosis. If it's wrong, she either panics or decides she doesn't need to come in. A photo also can't show what an exam or an X-ray shows.
Thank her, say why you can't quote from a picture, and offer the consultation with two times:
Salamat po sa picture. Hindi po namin ma-quote nang tama from a photo, kailangan po munang makita ng dentist. ₱500 po ang consultation, at doon niyo na rin malalaman ang exact price. May bakante po kami bukas ng 10:00 AM at 4:00 PM. Alin po ang okay?
If her message mentions pain or swelling, it's not a price question any more. Get it to the dentist that day.
That photo is also health information about a person, which the Data Privacy Act counts as sensitive personal information. Keep it in the thread. Don't forward it to the staff group chat to ask what it would cost.
Common mistakes
"PM po for price" or "please call." She's already messaging you. Asking her to call hands the work to the one person in the conversation who isn't paid to do it.
Different prices from different people. Jen says ₱1,500. The Saturday reliever says ₱1,200, because that's what she remembers from last year. Now the patient trusts neither number.
The bottom of the range quoted as the price. People remember "starts at ₱45,000" as "₱45,000".
A paragraph defending the price. One line on what's included is plenty.
The word "promo", anywhere. Not "promo this month only", not "promo for first-timers". See Section 19.3.
English back to a Taglish question. If she wrote "hm po braces", answer in Taglish. A formal English reply reads like it came from a template, even when it didn't.
Times saved into the template. A saved reply that still says "bukas ng 2:30 PM" from last Tuesday offers a slot that's already gone. More on that below.
Set it up once: a price sheet and saved replies
It's about an hour's work, and you do it once.
- List every service people ask about. A month of your Messenger threads will tell you which ones.
- Mark each one fixed, range, or set by the dentist, using the table above.
- Write one reply per service, following the pattern for its kind.
- Have the dentist approve every range and every "what's included" line. They're the dentist's fees.
- Save each reply in Meta Business Suite. The inbox lets your Page save a reply and reuse it, so give each one a short name like "braces".
- End every saved reply at the price and leave the times out. Whoever sends it types two times fresh from the real calendar.
- When a price changes, edit the saved reply the same day. Otherwise the old price keeps going out.
Step 6 is the one people skip, and it's how two patients end up offered the same 2:30 PM. If more than one person answers your Page, automating dental appointment booking covers picking one calendar to quote times from.
A new hire can learn the sheet in an afternoon, so it makes a decent first-week task. Training a new dental receptionist covers the rest of that week.
Where OtterFlow fits
Everything above works by hand, starting this week. Where it breaks down is timing. Price questions come in at 10 PM and on Sundays, and a saved reply needs somebody awake to send it and to look up two open times. Automating after-hours patient inquiries goes through which of those night messages are safe to answer without a person.
OtterFlow answers them from the price sheet you approved. A patient asks your Page how much braces cost. It replies in the language she used, English, Taglish or Bisaya, with the range and the consultation price you gave it. Then it checks which consultation slots are genuinely open, offers two, and books the one she picks. The SMS confirmation goes out straight away, and a reminder follows before the visit.
It won't make up a price it wasn't given. If someone asks about a service that isn't on your sheet, it says it doesn't know, takes her details and flags the conversation for your team. It doesn't diagnose either. Clinical questions go to your staff, and anyone on the team can take a conversation over. You can try it yourself on the Messenger chatbot page: message Flo at our demo clinic and ask it a price in Taglish.
Setup: ₱0. Then 4,975 a month. We build it from your services, prices, hours and booking rules, so the price sheet in this article is most of what we'd ask you for.
Questions clinics ask
Should we just send our price list as a picture?
As an extra, fine. As the reply, no. A price list image answers every question except the one she asked, it can't offer her a time, and she still has to find her line in it. Send the reply, and attach the list if she's asking about several services.
Who should answer price questions, the receptionist or the dentist?
The receptionist, from the sheet, for anything on it. The dentist, for anything beyond it, like a quote for a specific case or a question about a treatment plan. Once the sheet is right, the front desk shouldn't need to interrupt the dentist about prices during clinic hours.
She went quiet after the price. When do we follow up?
The next day, once, with two fresh times. Messenger gives you 24 hours from her last message to send what you like, so a next-morning follow-up to a 9 PM question still fits inside it. How to follow up with dental leads covers what you can still send after that window closes, and when to stop.
Before you change anything
Open last month's Messenger and read ten price questions alongside what your clinic sent back. Count how many replies had a number, a time and a question in them. If it's fewer than half, the sheet is the fix, and it costs you an afternoon. If the replies were fine but went out at nine the next morning, that's the gap a fifteen-minute call with us is about.