This method works on any aesthetic medical practice, including plastic surgeons, medical spas, dermatologists, and more. Use this method in your next organic social media campaign!
Looking for ways to handle price shoppers, so you turn them into consultations and cash-paying clients?
Every interaction your team has with clients can help to increase sales. Today, we’d like to focus on front desk interaction with price shoppers.
Yes, price shoppers. You know the “How much is your Botox?” type of caller, emailer, or messager.
If you’re searching for an easy way to benchmark and track your practice’s weekly and monthly sales revenue, be sure to download our Revenue Tracker spreadsheet for free. You can also check out our downloadable resources page if you need guidance on starting a medical spa business that succeeds.
What is a price shopper?
A price shopper is that potential patient who calls in and, simply put, is only interested in finding out the price of the services that you offer. They then hang up and continue to do this to all the practices in the area until they find the lowest price for, let’s say, Botox.
With all the marketing money you’re pouring into your practice, you want to ensure that your front desk has all the tools and techniques they need to book this kind of patient. This is the kind of person you want to come in for a consultation and service. You just have to have the proper phrasing and technique to get them to book and to get their mindset out of the price (and price shopping) and into why your practice is the best practice to go to for that specific service.
Getting price shoppers to book a consultation
In this blog, we’re going to share three techniques to help you and your front desk turn that price shopper into a paying patient.
Step 1: Engage the caller.
The first couple of seconds when your front desk picks up that phone is critical. It sets the tone for a super engaging conversation. It opens up that communication so that that person over the phone can feel comfortable enough to ask questions and know that they will get a warm answer.
When your receptionist picks up that phone and answers it within the first three rings, there are three things that they need to cover in their opening sentence:
- Thank them for calling.
- Provide them with your name.
- Ask how you can help them.
It should sound simple, like, “Hello, thank you so much for calling Projected Growth Consulting™. My name is Jessica. How can I help you?”
Pro tip: Ensure your receptionist is smiling when they answer the phone. It warms up the whole feel of the call.
If you don’t believe us, call around to a couple of places, and you’ll be able to tell if someone is smiling or not. It’s the little things that make a difference. This may sound super simple and obvious, but many medical spas or aesthetic medical practices miss this critical first impression for their practice. This could happen because maybe their front desk is multitasking with other admin tasks, or there’s another line ringing. Hence, they feel a little bit stressed, or perhaps it’s just never been communicated that this is the standard for how they should be answering the phones at their practice.
Now that you’ve answered the phone perfectly, what’s the next step?
What is the price shopper going to say? “Hi, how much is your price per unit?” Obvious.
The next step will show you how to get the “price shopper” off the focus of your prices.
Step 2: Capitalize on customization.
Everyone wants to feel special. We do, you do; it’s just the name of the game. The good news is almost every one of your treatments can be tailored specifically to each person’s needs, making it a specialized treatment just for them. Your providers know this, but do your receptionists?
For example, the amount of Botox units the caller would need is entirely different from what her mom or her friend would need. Another example of this is microneedling. The number of passes you do and the depth of the needles will be customized and tailored to each person’s specific needs.
Two steps to getting the caller off the concept of “the cost” of treatment:
- Make sure they get curious about what their specialized treatment plan would be.
- Engage the caller. Understand them and why they’re calling. Answer their question with a question.
Let’s say they just asked, “How much is your price per unit?” Get that engagement piece going, and ask them, “Have you ever had Botox?” This opens up and gives you a little time to understand that patient and why they’re calling.
Whether they say yes or no, you begin to explain your practice’s customization process.
You could say and do this simply by saying, “Awesome, I can tell you that our price per unit is $14. However, our providers do a full face assessment beforehand and completely customize your treatment plan. This allows for only the necessary dose to be given without wasting your money or unnecessary units.”
Trust us, however cheesy this may sound, it works. We train a lot of front desk people; it is critical. Selling that customization piece will go leaps and bounds above your competition.
There’s one more step, though, to make that caller book.
Step 3: Set an incentive for your front desk.
Your front desk will be highly motivated to make sure that caller becomes a patient if they know there’s an opportunity to make a little more money at the end of the month
Some do’s and don’ts to help get everyone excited and motivated:
- Do: Set the goal and make it fun.
- Don’t: pit your receptionists against each other.
- Do: Let them see the goal is attainable and rewarding
- Do: Have a staff member update a visual aid to update the staff on how close they are to reaching their goal throughout the month
- Do: Keep your team motivated by praising them when they’re doing a good job. This goes so far, farther than you might think.
Here’s an example of how to gamify your monthly goal:
Each new patient that comes in for a consultation or service counts as one point.
Make it a team effort to create this positive vibe in your office. Everyone will encourage each other, sharing the techniques for what worked or didn’t. It creates a team atmosphere for your practice, which is incredible. Patients pick up on those things, so keeping it positive is essential.
Summary
We hope that the tips and tricks we shared will help you:
- Engage with the caller
- Capitalize on customizations.
- Set an incentive for your staff with a goal in mind.
We implement these tricks with medical spas and plastic surgery offices all around the nation, and we know it works.
Remember, if you are looking for a free revenue tracker sheet that we use with all of our clients and want to download it for free, be sure to click this link.
