How to Convert More New Patients
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Perhaps you specialize in regenerative medicine, hormone therapy, cosmetic dentistry, or musculoskeletal dysfunction. Whatever your specialty, it’s highly doubtful that you’ve ever thought of yourself as a salesperson. Yet, you do indeed sell a service. As noble as the medical profession is, you will need to begin reframing your self-identity a bit if you want to build a thriving, successful practice. You and the other providers and staff members in your clinic are indeed salespeople.
Unfortunately, no medical school professor ever teaches future doctors how to launch medical advertising campaigns, convert leads, or upsell patients. That’s why so many medical providers turn to medical advertising experts (like our team here at 7FigureDocs) for help with their ad campaigns. Yet, our team takes things a step further by offering sales training in addition to medical advertising.
1. Anticipate common objections by new patients.
One of the inviolable rules of medicine is informed consent. Every legally competent patient has the right to be fully informed of their diagnosis and medical treatment options, including the potential risks and benefits of those treatments, as well as exactly what those treatments entail. Every legally competent patient has the right to make their own decisions about their healthcare, and physicians must absolutely uphold this golden rule.
Yet, within the bounds of ethics, there is plenty of room to convince patients that they can benefit from a particular service. It all starts with anticipating the common objections that new patients might make. Some of the most common objections involve the following:
- The expense of the service
- Whether or not the service is covered by insurance
- Whether the treatment has a good chance of providing value
- The perceived need of the patient to consult their spouse/partner
Chances are you’ve heard these objections in some form or other during your years in practice. If you’re a cosmetic dentist, for example, you might have had some patients who opted for the less expensive teeth whitening treatment instead of the more expensive porcelain veneers. The affordability objection is quite common across medical specialties. You may also have heard some objections unique to your particular medical specialty. (“Will this ED drug really work? Isn’t hormone therapy dangerous?”)
2. Address those objections with reasonable counterarguments.
Once you’ve identified the most common objections from your patients, you can begin to craft a strategy for addressing them. Again, it’s imperative to do so within the bounds of professional ethics. One of the most effective ways to counter an objection is to help the patient develop a clear understanding of the value of the service. There may also be a time-sensitive component, depending on the patient’s diagnosis. (For instance, TMJ disorder can get worse over time if left untreated.)
3. Use appropriate stories to substantiate the value.
If you’re having trouble communicating the value of your service, it can be helpful to use analogies or stories. Consider this:
TMJ Patient:“I’m not really sure I can afford a custom nightguard.”
Provider:“That’s completely understandable. But you should know that without a well-fitted nightguard, you’re likely going to develop chips and cracks in your teeth from bruxism. I’ve had many TMJ patients return to me for help repairing the damage from TMJ, when a custom nightguard would have prevented that damage from happening in the first place. One guy even needed orthodontics because his teeth became so badly misaligned.”
See how this response can enhance the perceived value of the treatment?
For comprehensive guidance on sales training in the medical office, you can sign up for our free webinar. We’ll show you exactly how to convert more patients without seeming overly pushy. Plus, our team can put together a comprehensive, fully HIPAA-compliant medical advertising campaign for you. Contact 7FigureDocs today to request a free strategy call.
