Radio Front Desk
Radio Front Desk is a podcast that talks to real people in real clinics about what it takes to build a health and wellness business.
Host Denzil Ford, Editor-in-Chief of Front Desk magazine, digs into the inspiring stories of folks building their practices from the ground up — including what works, what hasn’t, and everything in between.
Created by the team at Jane App, this podcast is your source for discovering fresh ideas and proven strategies for clinic life. Join us on this journey of building a practice you love.
Radio Front Desk
How to bring calm to your clinic’s front desk | Meghan from Jane App
What does it take to create a truly welcoming clinic?
In this episode, we’re talking to Meghan Menzel. Before becoming the Training Lead at Jane, she spent nearly a decade working at the front desk — and she’s learned something most of us forget: the front desk isn’t just about scheduling and payments. It’s about presence, emotion, and the moments that set the rhythm for everything else in your clinic.
In this episode, Meghan and Denzil dig into what’s behind those moments. They talk about emotional regulation, building systems that support people (not just processes), and why the first few seconds of a client’s experience might be the most important of all.
Whether you’re answering phones or running the whole clinic — this one’s for you.
What You’ll Learn
- How to build real, human connection at the front desk — even on a busy day
- Strategies for handling difficult conversations with empathy (without taking it personally)
- Why your front desk systems should work with you, not create more work
- The power of using personal strengths to build a stronger, happier front desk team
Guest Bio
Meghan Menzel is the Training Team Lead at Jane, approaching her 8-year “Jane-iversary” this June. Her healthcare background includes 8.5 years as an Office Manager and Chiropractic Assistant, giving her unique insight into the challenges and rewards of clinic life. Meghan's natural talent for education — explaining the "why" behind processes — drives her passion for "helping the helpers." When she’s not leading Jane's training initiatives, she's busy with her two kids, two dogs, and a small farm of cows and chickens. Meghan holds a black belt in Karate, and can recite the alphabet backwards — a skill that often helped when pulling paper files in her clinic days.
Resources mentioned
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Radio Front Desk is Brought to You by Jane
We like to make sure that when we tell you more about Jane, it’s super helpful. Here’s one we think you might like:
In this episode, we talk about the front desk as the heartbeat of the clinic — the place where warm, human moments set the tone for care. Jane’s Return Visit Reminders help extend that same thoughtful communication beyond the front desk. With gentle, customizable nudges, your patients stay connected to care, and your team spends less time chasing down rebookings.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional medical, legal, or financial advice.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast host or its affiliates.
The client came in later and said hey, I just want to let you know how that made me feel. And I was like oh, that's not what I meant, you know, like I'm just doing this because this is what I've been told to do. It's not what I said to them, but this is my internal thoughts. And then I paused for a second and I thought just listen, because this is an experience that I created for this person and it completely changed the way that I approach those conversations.
Speaker 3:Welcome back to Radio Front Desk by JNAP. I'm your host, denzel Ford. What does it mean to really support a clinic? Not just in the big strategic ways, but in the quiet everyday moments, like when someone walks in for the first time, unsure, maybe a little nervous, or when there's a hard conversation that needs to be handled gently. That's the world of Megan Menzel, and she knows it deeply. She spent nearly a decade working at the front desk, building systems, coaching teams and creating calm in the chaos. In this episode, we're zooming in on the front desk, which can be one of the most underappreciated roles in healthcare, and we're asking the question what does it take to create a truly welcoming clinic? Let's get into it. A truly welcoming clinic, let's get into it. Megan, welcome to Radio Front Desk. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm doing great and I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 3:So today we're going to talk about a part of the clinic and clinic life that sometimes doesn't get the recognition that it deserves the front desk. So my first question is in all of my years I feel like what I've noticed is that the front desk can really be like the heartbeat of the clinic. Can you take me back to a moment that really captures why the front desk matters? When did it feel like more than just admin, for instance, like the heart of the clinic itself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I worked for nearly nine years in clinic front desk office manager and I really think that it was watching the people come into the clinic and often on their very, very first appointments, and they're a little bit nervous and they don't know what to expect. Their very, very first appointments and they're a little bit nervous and they don't know what to expect and to be able to make that warm, welcoming environment that soothes them and lets them know that like they've made the right choice, they're in the right place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think about that a lot how to create that sense of warm and delight, because it doesn't just come from one thing, it's in the way I don't know your clinic smells the sound of the music playing the eye contact. So what does that really look like to you? How did you actually create that welcoming space?
Speaker 1:yeah, for me it was really about the actual greetings. No matter what I was doing in clinic, I stood up and I greeted the people and I met them face to face and I let them see my smile and I let them see that welcoming space that they were in. Sometimes that meant sitting beside them for a moment and taking that time out of my albeit very busy day and sometimes you just have to like work through making that space for that time, but it's so important.
Speaker 3:What I hear you saying is really taking an effort to make people feel special, and I wonder if there's any tricks that you use to to remember, like what would make somebody feel special or I don't know. Remember some detail about them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, having that actual, real connection with them always helps. You know me as an individual, but the thing is is that if I'm not sitting at the front desk, the next time they come in, I want them to have that same experience with the next person. So it might be just like putting a little note on their profile saying like, hey, they prefer this, you know. Or they got three kids at home and just want a little bit of a quiet moment. So like, let's try to create that space I love that.
Speaker 3:So if that's how we create connections in person, I'm curious about how do we make the same feelings come through in other areas of the clinic.
Speaker 1:Have a really great greeting that's authentic to you, because that's the first face. And when I say that I don't just mean a walking into the clinic greeting, but let's think about the greetings that happened before that. If you are sending out email reminders, if you are sending out text message reminders, if you are sending out intake forms to be filled out, those are the first face of your clinic. So let's look at them, but not just once. Look at them on a regular basis. They should be looked at a couple times a year, a minimum, to make sure they still reflect who you are. Are they the language that your clinic is today? Right? You want that experience of the person meeting you via the thank you for booking or an intake form to be the same experience they have when they walk into the clinic. It shouldn't be a disconnect.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know what? It's such a simple thing that gets overlooked. We're so used to checking expiry dates on forms and formal things like policies, but not necessarily tone or language, and formal things like policies, but not necessarily tone or language we have other conversations about. Even your website is kind of like an online waiting room for everything. So it all ties together and creates a story and an experience. So I love that you're calling that out.
Speaker 1:Absolutely the language of your front desk is everywhere.
Speaker 3:Okay, so we've talked about the good moments, but there's other kinds of situations where you have to handle complaints, you have to have tough conversations and the front desk can be something of a buffer zone. I wonder how you have approached preparing staff to handle those harder moments.
Speaker 1:I think that again, I'm going right back to that human first right. These are people and if they're coming in with frustrations and yes, I remember many, many of those but I think that there's opportunities to turn those around and listen and know where it's coming from. I found that when I was working in clinic, the majority of the time that frustration, that anger anger is a secondary emotion. It was often coming from pain or from a situation that was outside of their control. So allowing them to just take on some of that space, their control, so allowing them to just take on some of that space.
Speaker 1:One of my things and one of the things that I often spoke with our staff about was making sure that you had ways that you weren't taking on that. So again, I love to stand up and meet people, not in a confrontational way, but stand up so that they know that my time is theirs and I'm listening. But I can do a little thing with just angling my body, just a little tiny bit, and that allows me to let that slide past and I'm not going to take that brunt directly into my body. I think that there's definitely things that we can do in those moments to help ourselves recognize that we're safe. Right, this isn't coming to me, it's just happening.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah, that's a really powerful idea. I mean I don't think we talk about it enough what our bodies carry during the workday. Yeah, you're just talking to people, but there's so much emotion in those conversations just talking to people, but there's so much emotion in those conversations and then that you have such control over that emotion by just one little shift in your body, just angling your body ever so much, and all of a sudden you can feel that this isn't about you anymore. I think when I was in that position I wasn't quite there, so I really struggled with those moments where there was a conflict or friction. So, on that note, how would you approach coaching front desk people or a team, even to be empathetic in the way that you're talking about?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that just having that awareness number one you know this has to be a constant conversation that's happening, of creating safe space and, to be very honest, that conversations has to happen internally with yourself as well, like I can tell you, but you kind of have to remind yourself in those moments as well. So how I would approach, like talking to my team or talking to a team about it is just awareness of recognizing what happens to you. When that happens, like, what is your go-to? Are you wanting to fix it immediately? Is it something that you can fix? Is it a situation where you know the person didn't show up for their last appointment and now you're surprising them with a no-show fee and they're upset about that? How do we create that experience where they're like, okay, I do feel heard, I do feel valued, and sometimes that still means collecting that money. It is a business and it is time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that resonates so much. A lot of times just me personally I end up writing notes down, because it's a way of like distracting from the emotion. As you write down what they're saying and then you have like something to work with, so then you can later go away and all do all the things you can do, the work that they're asking for you to do you can have an emotional breakdown, whatever it is. So now that we've established that I tend to freeze in these sorts of moments, what's something that I can do to not freeze, to actually keep action moving? Are there phrases? Do you come up with specific words to say scripts?
Speaker 1:I think that you have to have a variety of go-to phrases that really feel authentic to you, because if you have soundbites that you're told to say and you don't believe them, they're not going to be heard, they're not going to be authentic. So you have to find your own words that feel right for you.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that. I feel that so many times, and especially in today's world where you're like listening to podcasts and they're giving you all this advice. But there is a process of a little bit of inner work at least to understand what you were saying a minute ago about understanding your own reaction, like what is your reaction when there's a conflict or a friction, and then finding some words that are just right there on the tip of your brain, because when you're in that emotional reaction, you're going to lose them if they're not right there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely you are. Yeah, they have to be.
Speaker 3:go to things that mean something to you have you ever had anybody give you feedback in a one on one, like directly, oh so much, so so much.
Speaker 1:Yes, some of it hard. Yeah, yeah, absolutely Some of it great. Yeah, feedback is a gift. Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1:I think that for me, it's not about taking the words with defense. It's about taking them and letting them percolate Like, okay, I know that I had this intention, but maybe this intention didn't land. So how can we look at it differently? One of the most impactful feedbacks that I ever received was actually not from a colleague, it was from a client in clinic and it was regarding a phone call where I had let them know that they were late for their appointment. So I phoned them up with a very standard and again find your own words.
Speaker 1:But I had been given this script to say, when somebody was late for an appointment and I would phone them, you know, five minutes after we would phone them and say, hey, you know you're late for your appointment or you're on your way, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:The client came in later and said, hey, I just want to let you know how that made me feel and I was like, oh, that's not what I meant. You know, like I'm just doing this because I this is what I've been told to do and it's not what I said to them, but this is my internal thoughts, what I've been told to do. And it's not what I said to them, but this is my internal thoughts. And then I paused for a second and I thought just listen, because this is an experience that I created for this person and it completely changed the way that I approach those conversations. And instead of saying hey, you're late, I changed it to are you on your way? Just checking to make sure everything's okay. And what a change, like immediately, what a change that I was getting back from people. People were phoning me back and letting me know what was going on. People were rebooking appointments.
Speaker 3:It was that easy. Thank you for sharing that. It's such a vulnerable example and words really matter. There's nuance in language. Words create emotion, I mean, and obviously I think a lot about words and language in marketing, and a lot of the attention that we spend on it is being intentional about the words that we choose, and I think that can apply in a clinic setting as well. It's very much an underrated part of the human experience in my opinion, because words do really make a difference, especially if you're choosing the wrong words. So if you're looking at something like a late cancellation script or a no-show policy, I just think it's so important to think about how someone on the other end might receive it, and it's not just how they receive it, but it's how they feel when they receive it. So, yeah, I appreciate you sharing that, yep.
Speaker 2:Hey there, christina, here Just a quick moment to share that this episode is brought to you by Jane. We know how much heart you put into building a practice you're proud of, and that's why we're here to make things like scheduling, charting and payments run a little smoother. If you'd like to take a peek head to janeapp forward, slash pricing, because we love a good bonus. Don't forget to use the code radio front desk for a one month grace period. Okay, I'll keep it short and sweet. Back to the episode.
Speaker 3:You've painted a really clear picture of the human side of the front desk and the human experience. We also know that there's always 400 different things going on at once. So if we're going to make time for those personal moments, things like eye contact, warm welcome, the systems in the clinic have to be a part of that. So how can technology be a part of welcoming, creating a welcoming environment?
Speaker 1:I am a huge advocate for letting your system be a colleague. Your system should work with you, right? You shouldn't be fighting against it. So figure out what opportunities you have to create these spaces. There's so many tools out there and I will be very honest in my early days working in clinic, we were paper.
Speaker 1:We had a paper book that we wrote things down, like keeping track of things was really really difficult, but it didn't have to be. And even when I first started using a software, I didn't go digging and looking for the opportunities in there because I didn't know they existed Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so how do you know if you're really using your software as a member of the team? How can you tell?
Speaker 1:When I come into conferences that we do and we're connecting with our practitioners and our office staff, one of the first things that they often ask is tell me what I don't know? Okay, I don't know what you don't know. I can show you some really, really, really cool things that might make your day easier. But the question I ask back is okay, well, what is it that you're struggling with? So I think the first thing that we have to do in order to be really, really successfully organized is look at what our pain points are. What is it that sits on your desk that you're like okay, I got to get to that Because if there's something that's nangling like that, there's a solution there.
Speaker 1:There's going to be a great solution, so let's explore it.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking back to my days and I'm like, oh, I know what they are. I know what the pain points were Right.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a big thanks to Megan for sharing her wisdom with us today and for reminding us that creating a welcoming space takes both structure and heart, and that the small, intentional choices we make are what shapes the whole experience. If you want to learn more about creating an organized and efficient front desk, be sure to check out Megan's playbook, linked in our show notes. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you in the next episode.