Help Your Refractive Coordinator!

As Jerry Maguire said: “Help Me, Help You!”

The practice’s refractive coordinator is the key component to taking advantage of advertising dollars spent. It does not matter how many leads are generated, if they are not being converted into paying surgeries. There are many tools a practice can employ to help the refractive coordinator convert leads to dollars in the practice’s pocket.

Customer Relationship Management Software:

One of the biggest problems for refractive coordinators is managing the incoming leads. It is easy to make the initial follow up, but more often than not leads fall out of sight within two weeks. Studies show it takes an average of eight touches before a lead is encouraged to take action. Customer relationship management software can help refractive coordinator schedule follow up and manage their weekly schedule. Software like this will ensure that no prospect falls out of site of the practice. If you are not willing to invest in a CRM, there are a few that will get the job done for free.

Educational Materials:

Educational materials can greatly affect the patient conversion within the consultation. It is much easier to speak with a LASIK candidate if they already have a base knowledge of the procedure, and what differentiates the practice. Make sure your website is up to speed and accurate. Educational booklets, whether electronic or tangible, do a great job of prepping a lead for the consultation, so they come in with questions prepared for the refractive coordinator. This will enable the refractive coordinator to find out the patient’s objections in a quick and efficient fashion.

Consultation Area:

An area that is often over looked in a practice is where the actual consultation is conducted. LASIK is an elective surgery, meaning these patients must be sold on the practice. A key component is how the patient perceives the office on the first visit. The consultation area should be a warm, inviting area in a quiet place. A nice touch is to offer refreshments when the patient arrives, giving them the feeling of “being pampered.” This will trigger subconscious thoughts and expectations of the whole surgery process. Once that perception is set, the prospect will be much more willing to openly discuss the barriers and objections to having surgery, giving the refractive coordinator the opportunity to position the practice as the only option for LASIK.

The refractive coordinator can be a practice’s main source of revenue, if they’re given the necessary tools to succeed. Given these tools, lead to completed surgery conversions should grow exponentially.