How to Stop Losing Patients over the Phone

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

You pick up the phone and a voice on the other side starts.

‘Hey, how much is a session?’

You answer ‘Oh it’s $150 for an initial consultation and $120 for a follow-up’.

‘Okay thanks, bye.’ You never hear from them again. Sound familiar?

If you’re a clinic owner, you know that every phone call could have a lifetime value of $900-1000 per patient. So it burns. It burns deeply when the phone rings and nothing ever comes of it.

If you’re the physiotherapist, remember that every phone call is someone looking for help – an engaged lead. And it’s your job to deliver value, whether that is in person or on the phone.

I’ve received a lot of inbound phone calls asking about my services – too many to count. And I’ve found that by avoiding these next three mistakes, you can deliver a lot of value. Through delivering value, the person on the other end is far more likely to book in with you and even if they don’t – you’ve left a good impression so they’ll think of you the next time they’re in trouble.

Here’s the video if you want the video version. But read on if you prefer the literary experience.

Mistake #1 – Not Taking Control

HONEY TAKE THE WHEEEEEEEEEEEL!

The first mistake I used to make a lot was being too passive in the conversation. It looked something like this…

Hello? Yes I’m a physiotherapist. Yes I do dry needling. Yes it’s $150 for 60 mins. Yep call us if you want to come. Okay no problem. Bye.

The reason you don’t want to be passive in a phone conversation is because you want to do two things:

• You want to deliver value
• You want to deliver more value AND THEN
• You want to book them in

And you can’t do any of those things if you’re not actively providing it. If you’re simply answering a patient’s questions, you’re not delivering any value, and they’re probably going to say ‘thanks, bye’ before you even get a chance to say anything to ‘wow’ them.

So how do we take control of the conversation? It’s actually really easy, and it’ll serve you for the rest of your life.

After you answer their question, you ask a follow-up one. That’s it. I know it sounds trivial – but that’s all you have to do.

So for example, if someone asks:

‘Hey, how much are your sessions?’

Your answer can be something like – ‘Hey [patient], thanks for calling in. Each session is either $150 for an initial which goes for 45 minutes or $120 for a follow-up which goes for 30 minutes. But dependent on your case, it might take 4-5 sessions before the injury fully heals so to give you a better idea, do you mind telling me what injury you’re dealing with?’

Mistake #2 – Rushing the Booking, Instead of Exploring the Case

Once they tell you what’s going on, most physios will try to book them in.

But you have to think of your patients like cats. Cats are shrewd and can’t be rushed. In fact, cats need time to trust you. So instead of trying to book them in right away…

You double down and deliver even more value.

So they might say ‘Oh I’ve just sprained my ankle playing footy last week…’

You A: ‘Okay sorry to hear, when would you like to book in?’

You B: ‘Okay sorry to hear, and if you don’t mind, can I ask you a couple more questions?’ Btw, You-B is better.

‘Yes, sure.’

‘Have you been able to walk on it since?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay that’s a good sign because most patients who can walk on it right after usually only take 4-5 sessions. And do you have a background in exercise?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay great, that’s even better. Based off what you’re telling me, it sounds like you’d probably get better after 4-5 sessions but we won’t really know until we do a complete assessment. Would you like to book in for one?’

‘Yes, sure.’

Boom. Booking made.

You have to take your time – and yes I know sometimes you’re so busy you don’t have time to chat to a patient over the phone for 5 minutes. But if you do have the time, now you know what to do.

The last mistake is so obvious, you’ll stub your toe if you’re not doing it.

Oh before we get to mistake #3, if you’re interested in refining your sales skills either through one on one coaching or want this to be taught to your team, we can hop on a free 20 minute strategy call to see what solution suits you best. Just click on this link here.

Mistake #3 – Not sending a confirmation text

Did you stub your toe? I hope not.

This is by far the LOWEST hanging fruit you can reap after a successful phone booking. Send them a confirmation text right away.

Why?

Because it shows two things.

1. It shows professionalism (more trust for your business, yay!)
2. It’s a formalised booking with the time so they can’t say ‘they forgot the time – ever.’

And that’s it! By avoiding these three mistakes, I guarantee you will book more people through the phone than ever before.

Until next time,
Phil