Last week, we began our discussion of free visits and how to create successful conversions from those visits. Once you’ve determined why your patient has finally decided to treat their problem:
- Find out how debilitating the pain has become. On a scale of 0-10, where is the pain. If it is only a two, you definitely might need to spend more time with the patient explaining their problem. If it is a 10 and they are fed up with it, then selling treatment will be a lot easier.
- What is their occupation? Is their pain preventing them from going to work and making them lose money?
- Use visual aids during your explanation of their problem. Tell them what is wrong in laymen terms. Ask them questions, like, “does that make sense? Or, can you see why this has happened to you?”
- This is the key point. You must tell them what will happen if this problem is left untreated. You need to get the patient to understand that it has to be treated. I am not saying you need to lie or even exaggerate. Tell the truth. Let them know that you have seen this condition many times and that you have always wished they had come in sooner.
- Now go over your treatment plan. Give the patient exactly what they need now to get better. Don’t treat their problem with a machine gun when only a fly swatter will do the trick. Tell them a story of a patient who has had this problem and they couldn’t run because of it, but now she just finished her first marathon.
- Once they have committed to the treatment plan, then it is the time to go over price. You can go over it or one of your financial team members can, or anyone trained to handle objections. The three reasons why people do not buy anything: time, fear and money. Make sure you have many ways for them to pay. Credit cards (all types), check, post-dated checks, and even Care Credit, a health care credit card that pays you immediately and puts the patient on a payment plan. Try to avoid making payment plans. Payment plans are just a great way for your staff to annoy the patient when the money is due and then you lose a patient.
If you follow the above steps, I guarantee you will convert a major portion of your free visit patients to paying patients. Just a little note, make sure you know your state laws about free visits.
We at Top Practices are dedicated to giving you more free time while building your dream practice.
Rem/Peter
P.S. Remember, you can email us any time with any question.
