Callitor · Stella for podiatry & chiropody practices — six-weekly care that keeps its rhythm, the phone answered mid-treatment

The problem

Regulars every six weeks, and a phone nobody can reach with gloves on.

01The phone rings mid-treatment. It rings out; the new patient tries the next practice.
02Six-weekly care drifts to nine, then twelve. Nobody notices until the feet do.
03Older regulars phone rather than click — and phone at 8:05, before anyone's in.

It's not that you need another practice module. Someone has to pick up, know both diaries and every room, and keep the rhythm alive.

A call, while your hands are busy

Monday, 8:05. Nobody's at the desk yet. A regular calls to rebook.

Recognised, greeted by name, no ceremony. Her usual podiatrist, her usual rhythm — one sentence and it's done.

Incoming call · Mrs. Hall · regular

S

Stella · Southgate Podiatry

ringing

0:00

Illustrative conversation. She adapts to what people actually say.

TuesdayRoom 2 · Dr. Osei

What she does, all day

Everything a good front desk does — plus she keeps the rhythm.

The universal six, and two that matter when the book is regulars and the patients prefer to phone.

01

Answers every call, like a person would

No menus, no “press one”, no hold music, no disclaimer wall. Place, first name, how can I help — in one breath. Then she listens instead of interrogating. And she's there at 7:40 in the morning and 9 at night — when the parent thinks of it, not when you open.

“Good morning, this is Stella — how can I help?”

02

Books into the real book

She searches actual availability — who is where, doing what, for how long, in which chair or room — and never double-books. If she offers 2:20, 2:20 is free.

03

Reminds, and takes the reschedule call

Reminders go out ahead of time. When someone can't make it, she handles the flustered call with warmth and finds the next time without drama.

04

Fills the late cancellation

A cancelled four o'clock is the one slot you can't sell tomorrow. The moment it frees, she offers it — by text — to the people who've said they'd take short notice, who wanted earlier, or who owe a make-up. First yes takes it; nobody else hears about it.

“A 4:00 with Mr. Ellis just opened — want it?”

05

Tightens your day

A four o'clock cancels? She asks the five o'clock if they'd like to come earlier. Nobody is obliged, and it cascades — you finish at five, not six.

“The four's opened up — would you rather come at four?”

06

Learns each client, gently

Someone turns down a 9am; she stops leading with mornings for them. Preferences, never rules — and when she checks, she uses very few words.

“Mornings tough? I'll avoid them.”

07

Routine care as a rhythm

Six weeks, eight weeks, quarterly — a standing arrangement with the same podiatrist and the same slot. She books the next one before this one's over, reminds the way each patient prefers (a call, not a text, if that's them), and moves one visit when life intervenes.

“That takes us to the week of the 14th — Tuesday 11:30 with Dr. Osei, like last time?”

08

Answers the way older patients call

Slowly, warmly, one question at a time, and never “please hold”. She recognises the number, uses the name, and rings back rather than texts when that's what someone prefers.

Last-minute cancellations

A cancellation is not a hole. It's an offer to the next person — the same morning.

She takes the cancellation the moment it comes, whatever the hour — nobody waits for the desk to open. Runway is money: the earlier she knows, the more people she can offer the slot to once your outbound hours open, and the likelier it fills. Your policy — notice period, deposit, fee — is yours; she states it plainly, applies it the same way every time, and stays kind about it.

S

Stella · Southgate Podiatry

text messages

8:05

Illustrative. Your policy, her words.

8:05Freed — Mrs. Hall cancels by text
8:06Policy applied, rebook offered — kindly
8:30Outbound hours open — offered to 3 people who asked for short notice
8:47Filled — Mrs. Rowe said yes; the rest hear “taken”
·Mrs. Hall · Tue 11:30 · call reminder

The freed slot goes to the people most likely to say yes: the short-notice list, the waitlist, make-ups owed, anyone who said “earlier if you can”.
First yes takes it. The others hear “taken” — never who, never why.
The make-up lands in a slot that would otherwise have gone empty; the freed slot earns today.
Your policy is applied the same way every time; the tone stays warm — especially to a parent with a sick child.
Outbound only inside your hours: she'll take a 7:40 text the instant it arrives and start offering the slot when your day opens — never before.
You see it on the panel — freed, offered, filled. Nothing to do.

Everyone on the short-notice list asked to be on it. Nobody is nagged; nobody hears another client's business.

And when it's your side

One sentence into the mic. She does the phoning.

Rain, a burst pipe, a birth, the autoclave, the hall double-booked — the whole block moves, and it's your call, not the client's. You say it once; she works out who's affected, offers each person the right alternative in their own words, waives the fee, logs the reason, and reports back. When it's an overrun rather than a closure she works by who can still act: the people who haven't left home yet get the call and the choice; the people already in the room get the honest ETA and a coffee; nobody further out is touched until the delay is still growing. Nobody hears why; nobody rings the desk.

I'm at a funeral tomorrow. Clear my day, offer Dr. Osei where patients are happy, and ring the ones who don't text.

Stella, twenty minutes later8 patients touched · 5 with Dr. Osei · 3 to next week · 3 rung, not texted

Standing arrangements

Every six weeks is a rhythm, not a reminder card.

A regular's routine care is a standing arrangement: podiatrist, cadence, preferred slot, and how they like to be reminded. Stella projects it forward, spots collisions early, and only ever moves a single visit.

Same podiatrist by default; a colleague only with the patient's yes.
Reminders the way each patient prefers — a phone call for those who don't text.
Closures and leave are seen weeks out and settled then.
A freed slot goes to someone who wanted earlier; pull-forward is always an offer.

For your team

Gloves stay on.

A panel at reception: who's next, which room, what changed. One button to say “move Mr. Patel to two.” Supply reps and scam calls never make it past the door.

Now10:26Southgate

New patient — 10:30, assessment, room 2then Mr. Patel at 1:00

Mrs. Hall rebooked for the 14th — call reminder, not text
2:30 opened in room 1 — offered to Mrs. Rowe, who wanted earlier
A supply rep and a robocall handled. Nothing for you.

“Hold room 3 tomorrow morning — the chair's being serviced.”

A panel, not an appan always-on screen at the desk that answers one question in five seconds: who's next, for whom, and has anything changed? Everyone sees their own day; the owner sees the floor. Something to read, not operate.
One button, your voicepress it and say “move Ana to four, and call Peter back for me.” That's the whole interface. She does the machinery behind the glass.
The shieldsales calls, scam calls, realtors — they never reach you and never appear anywhere. Real callers can ask to be put through; you still choose whether to pick up.
Only what can't waitat the desk, things land quietly on the panel. Out of the building, your phone only buzzes for the next hour or two.
Your whole inbound“tell Peter I'll be home at seven” in the same breath as the schedule. The cost of a personal call is the context switch, not the two minutes.
You are the bossyour team's hours guide what she offers on her own. A direct instruction — from you or from the stylist whose chair it is — is simply carried out, silently, and teaches her nothing about “normal”.

Nothing clinical lives on the panel — first names and times, like a whiteboard. Your notes stay where they are.

What she will never do

Warm is not the same as loose.

No menus

Not a phone tree

No “press one”. No “your call is important to us”. No recorded disclaimers before a human word. Warm, short, present — and honest if you ask what she is.

No inventing

Never makes things up

She offers what's in your catalogue and staff profiles. She won't crown a “best” anyone or promise an outcome. A time she offers is a time that's free.

No gossip

One client never hears about another

A moved client hears “we need to move your Tuesday — let me find you another time.” Never who, never why. And once moved kindly, they're not yo-yo'd back.

No pretending

Honest about what she is

She doesn't lead with it and doesn't apologise for it. Ask, and she'll tell you plainly: she's the assistant. She helps; that's what people remember.

Early access

Give Stella your practice.

Your visit types and lengths, your podiatrists and rooms, your hours, how each regular likes to be reminded. She's configured by hand for the first practices — a few at a time.

Stella is in early access with a small number of practices and salons. Tell us about your phone and we'll tell you plainly whether she fits — and when.