How to use SMART CONVERSATIONS with Patients to Trigger Sales

Kay and Shannon show you how the right kind of conversations with patients can (and should) initiate the sales process.     The show notes go even deeper and are located here: Read Full Transcript Initiating conversations with your existing patients that lead to sales. That’s what you want. But you can’t stop at simply initiating, you’ve got to carry them far enough to end in an appointment for a Consultation.So you’re ready to start initiating! You have props in and around your office and your entire team is wearing buttons - all promoting your body contouring treatments and inviting comments. You want patients to take notice, show interest and ask about your new offerings but when you’re first starting, those first conversations can be a bit (or a lot) scary. Today, we’re going to guide you through these conversations. We’ll give you directives on how (and how not) to communicate, examples of what and what not to say and ways to keep the conversations going. So let’s get started.First, understand that patients have different expectations of Team Members and Providers. Because of these expectations, your Team Members should be much more promotional, warm, excited and enthusiastic than you as a Physician, NP or PA. So how do your Team Members show warmth, excitement and enthusiasm about your body contouring treatments? It starts with something as simple as a smile. A smile (or absence of a smile) is a form of non-verbal communication. Have you heard the adage that communication is only 7% verbal and 93% non-verbal? We’re not sure if it’s that extreme, but non-verbal cues, such as smiling, are huge in human interactions, and especially in the sales process. Your Team Members must have enough basic knowledge about your body contouring services that they can speak about them with ease. Each one of them may not have enough working knowledge to take the conversation all the way so we recommend that you select at least one Team Member as your Designated Body Contouring Team Member. The rest of your team can refer to that designated person after the initial conversation with the patient. More than one Designated Body Contouring Team Member is better, but do what you can. Communication Basics for all Team Members Sincerely smile Take notice when patients are looking at props and initiate the conversation if the patient doesn’t Be excited, enthusiastic about the treatments Share with the patient their own experience with the treatments (if they’ve had the treatment) Use open-ended questions Keep conversation going with more talk - even if the patient seems to have faded away Do not allow conversations to end on a bad note; always reply with something positive End the conversation with something like, “Great! I’m going ask Yvonne to speak with you briefly. She is an expert at these treatments.” If the patient declines to speak to Yvonne, the Team Member should say something like, “Okay, I’ll tell her about your questions. She may email you some information or give you a call. How does that sound?” What if the patient declines to speak to Yvonne with a comment like, “Oh, don’t worry. I don’t want to bother her.” Your Team Member should reply with “Oh, it’s no bother at all! Yvonne loves to talk about body contouring.”The Team Member’s goal is to get the patient with Yvonne while the patient is at the office. That enables Yvonne to schedule a Consultation, which should ultimately lead to a sale.In the alternative, if your Team...