The Five Most Important Questions To Ask On The First Phone Call To Improve Cash Pay Conversions
The first phone call is the most important interaction a cash based chiropractor has with prospective new patients. The purpose of the first phone call is to see if this person on the phone is going to be good fit for your clinic and learn more about their concerns regarding their pain. By the end of the first phone call you need to have an idea of what’s going on, what it stops them from doing, and an emotional driver that caused them to reach out.
This will help you steer the in person conversation and follow up to increase the chance that the person chooses your clinic. The following five questions are designed
What’s going on? How long? How bad?
Obviously the first thing we need to know is what we’re actually dealing with. Back pain? Knee pain? Getting an understanding of how long and how bad their condition is will help you decide is this person is going to be a good fit for your clinic. Someone who has had pain for two years is likely going to be a better candidate for cash based clinic than someone who tweaked their back yesterday and just looking for an adjustment.
What Else Have You Tried?
It’s important to know what else the person has tried in regards to solving their issue. This will help give you a better idea of their expectations, potential objections, and willingness to go out of network.
What is the #1 thing this stops you from doing?
The unfortunate truth is that most people live will a certain amount of pain before seeking out care. They only reach out for help when it’s starts to impact other aspects of their lives. Knowing what it stops them from doing is important so you can communicate how you can help them get back to doing that activity.
Key point: Vague questions like ‘what does it stop you from doing?’ sometimes get vague answers. By asking the #1 thing it stops you from doing helps the person think of a more concrete answer.
What is your major concern regarding this issue?
For someone to invest time and money, there has to be a deeper concern than just ‘pain’. If their only concern is pain, then maybe the best advise would be to take some pain pills and sit on the couch for a few days (which we all know is a bad idea).
We want to know what the deeper concern is. Fear of needing surgery? Fear of it getting worse? Missing out on activities? Not sure what it is and what to do? These type of concerns are what you can best help with and someone would be willing to go out of network to solve.
If we could snap our fingers and take this pain away, how does your life change?
We’re trying to get at more emotional drivers. For example, if someone has back pain that keeps them from exercising, maybe they’re feeling more stressed (since exercise was their primary stress reliver). Maybe they feel lazy and gross (because they’re stuck at home unable to move). When you can communicate with a person on this level - the likelihood that they’ll become a paying patient goes through the roof.
To sum it all up, the purpose of the first phone call is to shift the conversation from ‘pain’ to deeper concerns and emotional drivers. This will help improve future conversations so clients know you truly understand their problem and increase the likelihood that they become paying patients.
“We Help Chiropractors Build The Mindset, Systems, And Communication Skills Needed To Create Profitable, Cash-Based Chiropractic Clinics That Support Their Lifestyle.”
If you’re interested in learning more about how to open a cash based chiropractic practice, enter your information below and our team will get back to you.