You most likely spend a small fortune on pay-per-click, SEO, website design, directories and more, to make your plastic surgery practice stand out in the sea of competition. But here’s the cold reality…Your efforts can get you ranked on page one of the search engines, but none of that matters if you’re not able to convert those leads to paid procedures.
Most practices will call the lead once, maybe twice and then it falls to the wayside and is forgotten. This is an expensive game to play because you need two times as many prospects to be able to “cherry pick” the easy leads ready to book.
So, what about those “not so easy” leads?
There is a fortune in follow up when you have a strategic and persistent protocol set up for those who:
• Called, but didn’t book the appointment
• Booked the appointment, but didn’t show up
• Showed up for the consult, but didn’t convert into a patient
Do you have a protocol in place to follow up on these types of leads and do everything possible to close them? How would you rate your staff’s ability to follow up and convert them? Do you know for sure your staff is actually following up on these leads to begin with?
It is time to determine whether it is these incoming surgical leads or your follow up that is weak.
Yes, the Internet is somewhat of the Wild West, and 10% to 20% of the leads generated from this medium are poor quality. Nevertheless, the majority of these patients are serious about cosmetic rejuvenation or they wouldn’t be online researching and reaching out.
A cosmetic patient will ponder having surgery for months and even years. They are hesitant and uncertain, so they go back to procrastinating.
However, you can turn these patients into paid procedures with the right system in place to convert callers into consultations and consultations into paid surgeries.
Here are four tips that will improve your follow up for incoming leads:
1. Fast response time. Everyone knows the age old saying: ‘You snooze, you lose,’ and the concept applies here. Be the first to respond to Internet leads. Get a practice cell phone with an app that alerts you immediately when a lead comes in so you are the first responder.
2. Use different communication channels. Be convenient to do business with. Let prospective patients communicate with you the way they are most comfortable. Be equipped and willing to accommodate their desire to call, email or text.
3. Use creative scripts. One reason staff has “call reluctance” to follow up is because they don’t know what to say. Give them a variety of scripts to use that compel the prospective patient to move forward. For example, rather than call and say, “Do you have any more questions?”, have them try: “Karen, Dr. Great’s surgical schedule is filling up quickly and I only have a few dates left this month. If you want to look fantastic in time for summer, let’s get you on the schedule now.”
4. Be professionally persistent. Life gets in the way for prospective patients who want surgery, but have trouble making it a priority when so much else is going on in their lives. So, it takes many follow up attempts to get their attention. Most staff quit too soon because they don’t have the skills or the stomach to follow up professionally. With the right protocol in place, just like your procedure protocols, it is no longer left to chance, or when staff feels like it or when they have extra time. They follow up no matter what.
With these simple steps you can add clarity and focus to your follow up, increase your conversion rates by 15% and save your staff time.
About the author
Catherine Maley, MBA
Ms. Maley has been an author, speaker, consultant and trainer for the cosmetic industry since 2000. Her mission is to help cosmetic practices attract and convert more cosmetic patients via creative marketing strategies and training staff to be conversion rock stars.
