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

• Meghan Menzel on LinkedIn
• Meghan’s playbook 

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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.

Learn more at jane.app

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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The client came in later and said hey, I just want
to let you know how that made mefeel.
And I was like oh, that's notwhat I meant, you know, like I'm
just doing this because this iswhat 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 secondand I thought just listen,

(00:22):
because this is an experiencethat I created for this person
and it completely changed theway that I approach those
conversations.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Welcome back to Radio Front Desk by JNAP.
I'm your host, denzel Ford.
What does it mean to reallysupport a clinic?
Not just in the big strategicways, but in the quiet everyday
moments, like when someone walksin for the first time, unsure,
maybe a little nervous, or whenthere's a hard conversation that

(00:55):
needs to be handled gently.
That's the world of MeganMenzel, and she knows it deeply.
She spent nearly a decadeworking at the front desk,
building systems, coaching teamsand creating calm in the chaos.
In this episode, we're zoomingin on the front desk, which can
be one of the mostunderappreciated roles in
healthcare, and we're asking thequestion what does it take to

(01:19):
create a truly welcoming clinic?
Let's get into it.
A truly welcoming clinic, let'sget into it.
Megan, welcome to Radio FrontDesk.
How are you doing?

Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm doing great and I'm so happy to be here.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
So today we're going to talk about a part of the
clinic and clinic life thatsometimes doesn't get the
recognition that it deserves thefront desk.
So my first question is in allof my years I feel like what
I've noticed is that the frontdesk can really be like the
heartbeat of the clinic.
Can you take me back to amoment that really captures why
the front desk matters?
When did it feel like more thanjust admin, for instance, like

(02:04):
the heart of the clinic itself?

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, so I worked for nearly nine years in clinic
front desk office manager and Ireally think that it was
watching the people come intothe clinic and often on their
very, very first appointments,and they're a little bit nervous
and they don't know what toexpect.
Their very, very firstappointments and they're a
little bit nervous and theydon't know what to expect and to

(02:27):
be able to make that warm,welcoming environment that
soothes them and lets them knowthat like they've made the right
choice, they're in the rightplace.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
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 wayI don't know your clinic smells
the sound of the music playingthe eye contact.
So what does that really looklike to you?
How did you actually createthat welcoming space?

Speaker 1 (02:57):
yeah, for me it was really about the actual
greetings.
No matter what I was doing inclinic, I stood up and I greeted
the people and I met them faceto face and I let them see my
smile and I let them see thatwelcoming space that they were
in.
Sometimes that meant sittingbeside them for a moment and

(03:17):
taking that time out of myalbeit very busy day and
sometimes you just have to likework through making that space
for that time, but it's soimportant.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
What I hear you saying is really taking an
effort to make people feelspecial, and I wonder if there's
any tricks that you use to toremember, like what would make
somebody feel special or I don'tknow.
Remember some detail about them.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
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 sameexperience with the next person.
So it might be just likeputting a little note on their
profile saying like, hey, theyprefer this, you know.
Or they got three kids at homeand just want a little bit of a

(04:04):
quiet moment.
So like, let's try to createthat space I love that.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
So if that's how we create connections in person,
I'm curious about how do we makethe same feelings come through
in other areas of the clinic.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Have a really great greeting that's authentic to you
, because that's the first face.
And when I say that I don'tjust mean a walking into the
clinic greeting, but let's thinkabout the greetings that
happened before that.
If you are sending out emailreminders, if you are sending

(04:44):
out text message reminders, ifyou are sending out intake forms
to be filled out, those are thefirst face of your clinic.
So let's look at them, but notjust once.
Look at them on a regular basis.
They should be looked at acouple times a year, a minimum,
to make sure they still reflectwho you are.

(05:04):
Are they the language that yourclinic is today?
Right?
You want that experience of theperson meeting you via the
thank you for booking or anintake form to be the same
experience they have when theywalk into the clinic.

(05:24):
It shouldn't be a disconnect.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, and you know what?
It's such a simple thing thatgets overlooked.
We're so used to checkingexpiry dates on forms and formal
things like policies, but notnecessarily tone or language,
and formal things like policies,but not necessarily tone or
language we have otherconversations about.
Even your website is kind oflike an online waiting room for
everything.
So it all ties together andcreates a story and an

(05:49):
experience.
So I love that you're callingthat out.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
Absolutely the language of your front desk is
everywhere.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Okay, so we've talked about the good moments, but
there's other kinds ofsituations where you have to
handle complaints, you have tohave tough conversations and the
front desk can be something ofa buffer zone.
I wonder how you haveapproached preparing staff to
handle those harder moments.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
I think that again, I'm going right back to that
human first right.
These are people and if they'recoming in with frustrations and
yes, I remember many, many ofthose but I think that there's
opportunities to turn thosearound and listen and know where
it's coming from.
I found that when I was workingin clinic, the majority of the

(06:45):
time that frustration, thatanger anger is a secondary
emotion.
It was often coming from painor from a situation that was
outside of their control.
So allowing them to just takeon some of that space, their
control, so allowing them tojust take on some of that space.
One of my things and one of thethings that I often spoke with
our staff about was making surethat you had ways that you

(07:07):
weren't taking on that.
So again, I love to stand upand meet people, not in a
confrontational way, but standup so that they know that my
time is theirs and I'm listening.
But I can do a little thingwith just angling my body, just
a little tiny bit, and thatallows me to let that slide past

(07:27):
and I'm not going to take thatbrunt directly into my body.
I think that there's definitelythings that we can do in those
moments to help ourselvesrecognize that we're safe.
Right, this isn't coming to me,it's just happening.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Right, yeah, that's a really powerful idea.
I mean I don't think we talkabout it enough what our bodies
carry during the workday.
Yeah, you're just talking topeople, but there's so much
emotion in those conversationsjust talking to people, but
there's so much emotion in thoseconversations and then that you
have such control over thatemotion by just one little shift

(08:07):
in your body, just angling yourbody ever so much, and all of a
sudden you can feel that thisisn't about you anymore.
I think when I was in thatposition I wasn't quite there,
so I really struggled with thosemoments where there was a
conflict or friction.
So, on that note, how would youapproach coaching front desk

(08:29):
people or a team, even to beempathetic in the way that
you're talking about?

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, I think that just having that awareness
number one you know this has tobe a constant conversation
that's happening, of creatingsafe space and, to be very
honest, that conversations hasto happen internally with
yourself as well, like I cantell you, but you kind of have
to remind yourself in thosemoments as well.

(08:54):
So how I would approach, liketalking to my team or talking to
a team about it is justawareness of recognizing what
happens to you.
When that happens, like, whatis your go-to?
Are you wanting to fix itimmediately?
Is it something that you canfix?
Is it a situation where youknow the person didn't show up

(09:17):
for their last appointment andnow you're surprising them with
a no-show fee and they're upsetabout that?
How do we create thatexperience where they're like,
okay, I do feel heard, I do feelvalued, and sometimes that
still means collecting thatmoney.
It is a business and it is time.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yeah, that resonates so much.
A lot of times just mepersonally I end up writing
notes down, because it's a wayof like distracting from the
emotion.
As you write down what they'resaying and then you have like
something to work with, so thenyou can later go away and all do
all the things you can do, thework that they're asking for you

(09:57):
to do you can have an emotionalbreakdown, whatever it is.
So now that we've establishedthat I tend to freeze in these
sorts of moments, what'ssomething that I can do to not
freeze, to actually keep actionmoving?
Are there phrases?
Do you come up with specificwords to say scripts?

Speaker 1 (10:20):
I think that you have to have a variety of go-to
phrases that really feelauthentic to you, because if you
have soundbites that you'retold to say and you don't
believe them, they're not goingto be heard, they're not going
to be authentic.
So you have to find your ownwords that feel right for you.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Oh, I love that.
I feel that so many times, andespecially in today's world
where you're like listening topodcasts and they're giving you
all this advice.
But there is a process of alittle bit of inner work at
least to understand what youwere saying a minute ago about
understanding your own reaction,like what is your reaction when
there's a conflict or afriction, and then finding some

(10:59):
words that are just right thereon the tip of your brain,
because when you're in thatemotional reaction, you're going
to lose them if they're notright there.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Absolutely you are.
Yeah, they have to be.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
go to things that mean something to you have you
ever had anybody give youfeedback in a one on one, like
directly, oh so much, so so much.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Yes, some of it hard.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Some ofit great.
Yeah, feedback is a gift.
Yeah, it really is.
I think that for me, it's notabout taking the words with
defense.
It's about taking them andletting them percolate Like,
okay, I know that I had thisintention, but maybe this

(11:47):
intention didn't land.
So how can we look at itdifferently?
One of the most impactfulfeedbacks that I ever received
was actually not from acolleague, it was from a client
in clinic and it was regarding aphone call where I had let them
know that they were late fortheir appointment.
So I phoned them up with a verystandard and again find your

(12:11):
own words.
But I had been given this scriptto say, when somebody was late
for an appointment and I wouldphone them, you know, five
minutes after we would phonethem and say, hey, you know
you're late for your appointmentor you're on your way, kind of
thing.
The client came in later andsaid, hey, I just want to let

(12:31):
you know how that made me feeland I was like, oh, that's not
what I meant.
You know, like I'm just doingthis because I this is what I've
been told to do and it's notwhat I said to them, but this is
my internal thoughts, what I'vebeen told to do.
And it's not what I said tothem, but this is my internal
thoughts.
And then I paused for a secondand I thought just listen,

(12:52):
because this is an experiencethat I created for this person
and it completely changed theway 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 sureeverything's okay.
And what a change, likeimmediately, what a change that
I was getting back from people.

(13:12):
People were phoning me back andletting me know what was going
on.
People were rebookingappointments.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
It was that easy.
Thank you for sharing that.
It's such a vulnerable exampleand words really matter.
There's nuance in language.
Words create emotion, I mean,and obviously I think a lot
about words and language inmarketing, and a lot of the

(13:38):
attention that we spend on it isbeing intentional about the
words that we choose, and Ithink that can apply in a clinic
setting as well.
It's very much an underratedpart of the human experience in
my opinion, because words doreally make a difference,
especially if you're choosingthe wrong words.
So if you're looking atsomething like a late

(13:59):
cancellation script or a no-showpolicy, I just think it's so
important to think about howsomeone on the other end might
receive it, and it's not justhow they receive it, but it's
how they feel when they receiveit.
So, yeah, I appreciate yousharing that, yep.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Hey there, christina, here Just a quick moment to
share that this episode isbrought to you by Jane.
We know how much heart you putinto building a practice you're
proud of, and that's why we'rehere to make things like
scheduling, charting andpayments run a little smoother.
If you'd like to take a peekhead to janeapp forward, slash
pricing, because we love a goodbonus.
Don't forget to use the coderadio front desk for a one month

(14:37):
grace period.
Okay, I'll keep it short andsweet.
Back to the episode.

Speaker 3 (14:40):
You've painted a really clear picture of the
human side of the front desk andthe human experience.
We also know that there'salways 400 different things
going on at once.
So if we're going to make timefor those personal moments,
things like eye contact, warmwelcome, the systems in the

(15:02):
clinic have to be a part of that.
So how can technology be a partof welcoming, creating a
welcoming environment?

Speaker 1 (15:10):
I am a huge advocate for letting your system be a
colleague.
Your system should work withyou, right?
You shouldn't be fightingagainst it.
So figure out whatopportunities you have to create
these spaces.
There's so many tools out thereand I will be very honest in my
early days working in clinic,we were paper.

(15:34):
We had a paper book that wewrote things down, like keeping
track of things was reallyreally difficult, but it didn't
have to be.
And even when I first startedusing a software, I didn't go
digging and looking for theopportunities in there because I
didn't know they existed Right.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, so how do you know if you're really using your
software as a member of theteam?
How can you tell?

Speaker 1 (15:59):
When I come into conferences that we do and we're
connecting with ourpractitioners and our office
staff, one of the first thingsthat they often ask is tell me
what I don't know?
Okay, I don't know what youdon't know.
I can show you some really,really, really cool things that
might make your day easier.
But the question I ask back isokay, well, what is it that

(16:22):
you're struggling with?
So I think the first thing thatwe have to do in order to be
really, really successfullyorganized is look at what our
pain points are.
What is it that sits on yourdesk that you're like okay, I
got to get to that Because ifthere's something that's
nangling like that, there's asolution there.

(16:44):
There's going to be a greatsolution, so let's explore it.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
I'm thinking back to my days and I'm like, oh, I know
what they are.
I know what the pain pointswere Right.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yeah, a big thanks to Megan for sharing her wisdom
with us today and for remindingus that creating a welcoming
space takes both structure andheart, and that the small,
intentional choices we make arewhat shapes the whole experience
.
If you want to learn more aboutcreating an organized and

(17:15):
efficient front desk, be sure tocheck out Megan's playbook,
linked in our show notes.
Thanks again for listening andwe'll see you in the next
episode.