Following Up on New Cosmetic Patient Leads
The practices that master the art of following up on new cosmetic patient leads win, so this is not to be taken lightly.
It’s too competitive, it’s too crowded and it’s too expensive NOT to do everything within your control to get these leads to the finish line and that’s paid procedures.?
PROVEN STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR PROCESS OF FOLLOWING UP ON NEW COSMETIC PATIENT LEADS
HOW DID THE PROSPECTIVE PATIENT COMMUNICATE WITH YOU?
HOW leads come to you makes a huge difference in the probability of converting them to paid procedures.
For example, did they call your office, fill out your website form, DM you social media, use your ChatBot or something else??
Here’s a tip… generally speaking, the best lead is the one the prospective patient has put more effort into.?
Typically, the best is when they actually picked up the phone and called you. With all of this technology at our disposal, nobody has to talk anymore. They can just “type and text”.?
That means callers are hot leads!?
Please be sure your phones are answered within three rings by a friendly, professionally trained receptionist who knows how to bond with the caller, credential you as the best choice, and book the appointment!
FOLLOW UP FAST
It’s proven over and over that the first practice to respond wins. That makes sense since you have someone interested in your services NOW.?
Their current attention is on looking for a solution to their problem, so you want to enter that conversation in their head before they move on to the next thing on their to-do list.?
Your fast follow up demonstrates your professionalism and impresses would-be patients.
Figure out how you can respond immediately to incoming leads. I suggest using a dedicated practice cell phone that pings a dedicated staff person when a new lead comes in.?
That staff person would then immediately call, text, email a response to interact with the patient to build trust and encourage them to book a consultation to learn more.
PERSONALIZE
There’s a chance, you have set up auto responses to leads. That’s good but not good enough if you are trying to stand out as the BEST CHOICE.?
Go the extra step to personalize your communications with the patient’s name and their specific concerns.?
This shows you care and helps you bond, while building trust, making it more likely the patient will choose you over your competitors because you stand out.?
Today’s technology can help you personalize, while saving time AND getting better results.
For example, which of these messages are you more likely to respond to?
No-Personalization:
Personalization:
This more personalized message is still templated but you have softened it up so it’s friendlier and more informative.?
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This is counterintuitive but I recommend you address their unanswered questions before they ask them.?
Offer details about the procedure, downtime, starting fees, and showcase your success stories, reviews, and before/after photos of your happy patients.
By providing this ahead of time, you are building trust and demonstrating your expertise and that increases your chances of converting leads.?
It also weeds out those patients who can’t, don’t, won’t be good candidates because they don’t have the financially wherewithal or sound mind or body to move forward so why waste your time????
For example, here’s someone who had just started researching their options, so this practice is nurturing them with a free guide.?
Technology can even be used to notify you when the prospective patient clicks on the guide so you can follow up, now that they are more educated:
TRACK YOUR RESULTS
The good news about technology is that it allows you to track every call, click and action taken by prospective patients.?
This way, you can identify where the weak links are.?
领英推荐
Learn how to read analytics reports from your vendors to identify what’s working and what’s not.?
For example, there are only a few metrics you need to focus on to keep your revenues consistent:
So, if you get a lot of leads but they are not booking, fix your phones. If you do a lot of consultations but patients don’t book, evaluate your patient visit and closing skills.?
The answers are always in the numbers.?
USE TECHNOLOGY
There are so many automated tools available today and more to come with the advancements of A.I. to help streamline your processes.
Here are essentials:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
I highly recommend all lead information be entered into a customer relationship management (CRM) software to monitor leads, track communication history, and measure conversion rates that everyone updates real-time.
That way, you always have the full picture of the lead history such as HOW they contacted you, their referral source, where they are in the process and so on.?
This streamlines your process and ensures no leads fall through the cracks.
Email Marketing Automation
Email is still widely used by patients so use it to your advantage. Set up email templates you can “plug and play” depending on the procedure the patient is asking about.?
I recommend having a library of email autoresponders that are pre-set to go out, as well as personalizing them to a specific patient you are talking to, but you don’t want to start from scratch.?
Text Messaging
Text message campaigns have become increasingly popular for lead follow-up due to their high open and response rates.?
Use a text messaging platform to send personalized messages directly to your prospective patients’ cell phones.?
But use concise and engaging messages to initiate conversations, answer questions, or provide updates, so patients want to hear from you and respond.
Social Media Engagement
Use social media to monitor conversations, respond to comments or direct messages and share relevant content.?
The goal is to build relationships and create a community of would-be patients who want to follow you and, hopefully, take advantage of your services when they are ready to move forward.?
You can host live Q&A sessions, share before-and-after photos to showcase your expertise and ask your followers questions to get them to interact with you.?
For example, do short FAQ videos about a procedure and include before/after photos and ask if anyone has a question or feedback about the results.?
Live Chat and Chatbots?
Add a live chatbot on your website to provide immediate assistance and capture leads in real-time.
You must set up your processes so a live person on your team is answering immediately to get the best results.?
You can also set up automated responses to FAQs or collect basic lead information. Chatbots can even qualify leads and schedule consultations to save you a bunch of time on weed out qualified leads.?
However, some leads will prefer human engagement, so you’ll want to balance automation with personalized interactions.?
Test automation vs. human interaction to determine how much automation starts hurting your results, so you can pull back and get your staff more involved.
CONCLUSION
Technology is a powerful ally in your lead follow-up efforts, but it’s a double-edged sword.?
It can be complicated with a tough learning curve, so you have to allow for extra staff training to understand it, and then ongoing training to ensure everyone continues to use the technology correctly so you have consistency.?
That way, you don’t get caught in the “garbage in-garbage out” issue. You also want to mystery-shop and test your own lead processes monthly to ensure all is working as planned.??
If you know you are losing money on your lead gen process (or lack thereof), let me help!