Want More of your Patient Consults to Result in Patient Surgeries? Some elective surgery practices call it an Evaluation, some call it a Screening, and others call it a Consultation… No matter how you slice it, the bottom line is that your initial, face-to-face potential patient interactions are truly sales processes. Every single person within your practice is a sales person. They are selling themselves, your practice, your procedures. The truth is that when someone chooses to give you money for your services, you’ve made a sale. Because your surgeries are not medically necessary, your patients have a choice NOT to choose you. You have to give them reasons to choose you…reasons to change their lives. It’s time to rethink your idea of “sales”. Like it or not, your internal team MUST have training in sales techniques in order to effectively convert consultations to surgeries. We know…it sounds odd for medical practice personnel to also have selling skills, but your conversion rates will stay stagnant, drop or be unpredictable if they don’t have these skills. Some elective surgery practices truly believe that they “don’t need to sell their practice” because they get most of their business from word of mouth (referrals) or that their “doctor’s reputation speaks for itself”. The problem with this mindset is that you will continue to only attract the low-hanging fruit, which constitutes only 5% of the potential patients out there! You have to actively market your practice in order to grow beyond that 5%. If you are doing that, your job is to help prospects obtain all the information they need to make a confident decision. YOU must come across as the expert and the “go to” practice for their needs. This is where sales comes in. Where do you start? You can’t just tell your staff to start “hard selling” your practice. That will turn people away rather than entice them in. Elective surgery sales is a fine line. And we know how to walk it. The goal is to not turn your practice into a used car dealership. Every patient, or prospective patient, should feel special and unique. Your staff should be educated on the fundamentals of sales so that you can become a true consultant that enhances your patients experience. This isn’t a “one size fits all” approach. Every practice is unique…every practice will have different problem areas that can be identified through observation and improved through training. People come to your office for Consultations for several reasons: To get information. To get reassurance that they are making the right decision in choosing elective surgery. To be “sold” on the idea that YOUR practice is where they should spend their money. The effectiveness of your “sales” techniques during the Consultation / Evaluation / Screening will either prompt people to schedule a surgery or stop any interest in proceeding with you…possibly looking to your competitor. There are steps to improve your internal processes and help patients realize it would be foolish Not proceed with the surgery they are considering, and Not have the surgery at your practice. Want to start filling up your surgery schedule right away? Contact Brandi at 303-731-2634 or brandi@fast-trackmarketing.com to have us analyze your current process flow.