First impressions matter when it comes to boosting your closing sales ratio. How you interact with a prospective patient, both verbally and nonverbally, can make or break the success of a consultation. Earning a prospect’s trust starts from the moment you enter the room to greet them. Your goal during a consultation is to gain a prospect’s trust while easing any anxieties they may have so they feel more comfortable booking an appointment with you.
Keep reading to learn more about the TENS technique; the 4-step process you need to implement to boost your closing sales ratio and increase the lifetime value of your customers.
4 Steps to Increase Your Closing Sales Rate
Put potential patients at ease, raise your closing sales ratio, and increase the lifetime value of your customers by using the 4 components of the TENS technique.
1. Touch
Touch is the first critical step in the TENS technique that helps quickly build trust with the prospect. As you are entering the room to greet the potential patient, shake their hand. This will help instantly establish trust and connection with the individual.
Remember, you only have about 30 minutes during a new patient consultation to calm their fears, connect, and get them to book an appointment. That’s why the sooner you can put a potential patient’s worries at ease, the better. Immediately shaking a potential patient’s hand will also help reduce any awkward silence that can follow when meeting someone to ensure you start the consultation off on the right foot.
2. Lock Eyes
The next step in the TENS technique is to lock eyes with the patient as you are shaking their hand. You’ll also want to maintain eye contact throughout the consultation. Making friendly eye contact helps show that you are fully engaged in the consultation. Plus, eye contact is a nonverbal cue that shows you are present in the moment, and ready to start the consultation off strong to help them achieve their aesthetic goals.
Avoid glancing down at your chart or focusing your eye contact on anything other than your potential patient. Otherwise, a lack of eye contact may come off as inconsiderate and disrespectful, whether you’re aware of it or not. This can quickly lead to a prospect feeling apprehensive which hurts your chances of getting them to book an appointment.
3. State Your Name
After you shake the individual’s hand while making friendly eye contact, you’ll then want to introduce yourself and state your name. This small gesture can go a long way in further establishing familiarity and connection with your prospect. Even if you are wearing a name tag, it’s still good to state your name as this helps move the conversation to a peer-to-peer level, rather than coming off as talking down to the patient.
After stating your name, you’ll want to start building rapport with the patient before they meet with the provider or doctor. Some talking points you’ll want to cover during this time in the consultation include:
- What are your aesthetic goals?
- What treatments are you interested in?
- Have you had any aesthetic treatments in the past?
This time in the consultation is important because you’ll gain a better understanding of what the prospect is looking for in terms of concerns they are looking to address/ aesthetic goals they are trying to achieve.
Remember, most patients may feel self-conscious about their specific aesthetic concerns– that’s why they are coming to your practice to improve these concerns. So, you’ll want to make sure the prospect feels comfortable talking about these concerns as you progress in your consultation. This helps dispel any nervous energy a prospect may have before the provider joins in to discuss treatment recommendations and protocols.
4. Smile Sincerely
Last but not least, smile sincerely throughout the consultation. Smiling gives off a sense of warmth and comfort that the prospect can open up about their aesthetic concerns, no matter how vulnerable or embarrassing the concern may seem. The last thing a prospect wants to feel is judged during their consultation. Smiling invites the prospect to open up about their aesthetic concerns, and sends a clear message that your practice can deliver the results they are looking for to feel more comfortable and confident in their skin.
Looking for even more tips to raise your closing sales ratio? Here are two extra tips you can use, along with the TENS technique, to help:
- Set the Tone
- Prepare Before the Consultation
While these tips may seem self-explanatory, you’d be surprised at how often tone and preparation are overlooked in consultations. Remember, the prospect is coming to you for help in improving their aesthetic insecurities. While the TENS technique can significantly help start the consultation process off strong, you’ll want to avoid saying things that could dissuade the prospect from receiving a particular treatment.
For example, asking a prospect who’s interested in receiving liposuction “Have you tried diet and exercise before” can be offputting. Therefore, think clearly about how what you say is going to impact how the prospect feels.
This also ties into preparation. Preparation is key, especially before a consultation. Before the consultation, think of relevant questions you can ask the prospect to build a greater understanding of their aesthetic goals. This will help guide the consultation forward and help reduce moments of awkward silence or the risk of saying the wrong thing.
Ready to Raise Your Closing Ratio?
The TENS technique is a helpful strategy you can use to make potential patients feel immediately more comfortable during your consultation. Consultations can be nerve-wracking for many patients because they are not only meeting your team potentially for the first time. But, they are coming to you with help in improving aesthetic concerns they’ve likely felt insecure about for years.
The TENS technique helps invite an open, judgment-free conversation between you and your prospect which can help boost your closing sales rate and increase the lifetime value of your customers.
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