Are You Making the Most of Shopper Calls?
Kristi Hudson
Many clinics start the new year focused on marketing efforts in hopes of generating a flood of new patients to their practices. Increased marketing leads to more shopper calls. One thing often overlooked is the frequency of these types of calls because they are not usually measured. Failure to convert shopper calls results in the missed opportunity to help patients and a loss of revenue for the clinic. Many providers fail to realize that every shopper call is a potential new patient. More importantly, they fail to provide their team with the skills and scripts needed to answer these calls successfully.
I learned a lot when I began focusing more attention on shopper calls. I was initially surprised by the high volume of shopper calls that we received. I was even more surprised by how few of them became new patients in our practice. Many patients scheduled appointments but never showed up. Most importantly there were vast inconsistencies in how the calls were handled. Certain team members almost always lost the opportunity to schedule, while others booked them almost every time, and those patients kept their appointments.
Changes within the insurance industry have put more of a financial burden on the patient when it comes to paying for services in your office. As a result, our patients are becoming healthcare consumers. Many of us have trained our teams to be evasive when potential patients ask, "How much does it cost to see the doctor?" That leaves them feeling annoyed and frustrated and often leads them to seek care elsewhere.
In our case, we had a false sense of satisfaction because so many patients were calling our office and making appointments, but we quickly realized the system was broken when many of those appointments were canceled, or the patients didn't show up at all. So, we made a few adjustments to the script and focused on team training.
Following are a few tips for how we turned a bunch of no-shows into new patients.
1 Clean and Simple Greeting: “Thank you for calling ABC clinic. This is Susie.” Without adding too much unnecessary information, we allow the patient to get to the point of their call quickly. By ending the greeting with our team member's name, the patient is more likely to connect and use it during the conversation, which helps build rapport.
2 Give and Take: “I’d like to make an appointment.” Most office scripts sound like an online poll. We ask a series of questions and wait for the potential new patient to reply. Yes, we need to gather specific information about the patient, but we need to give the patient a good reason to share the information first. Answer their question with a question. "I'd love to schedule an appointment for you. May I ask who I am speaking with?"
3 Don’t Just Listen - Pay Attention: “I’m in excruciating pain.” When a patient calls the office, they want you to know how they feel. The more they talk, the better chance you have of scheduling an appointment and securing a new patient in your office. Using the information the patient provides and responding appropriately to it is the key to success. Repeating words they use will go a long way in validating their feelings. "I am sorry to hear that. How long have you been in excruciating pain?"
4 Tell Them What They Want to Know: “How much does it cost to see the doctor?” When we fail to answer that question, we can come off as untrustworthy, evasive, or as if we don't know what we are doing. Patients calling your office already know that they have a problem that can be resolved with chiropractic, but they do not know if they can afford it. We train our teams to be vague for good reason. We simply do not know what type of exam the doctor will perform, if X-rays are necessary, or what treatment will be recommended. Your team can answer the question simply by saying, "It really depends on what the doctor finds necessary for treatment..."
At a time when audits are on the rise and being compliant is a top priority, utilize a DMPO in your office to help solve this problem. Joining a DMPO allows clinics to set a capped fee for new patient visits and routine office visits, providing you with the answer to this age-old question and still be compliant with state and federal rules and regulations. "For patients like you with limited benefits (no insurance, high deductible, etc.), we are members of a Discount Medical Plan Organization. You can join today for $49, and the most you will pay for today's visit is $175. Would you like a morning or an afternoon appointment?"
Karl Pearson said, "That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially." These small changes cost your practice nothing but can pay off in big ways. Many practices see 90 to 95% of shopper calls become new patients. To request a copy of our sample shopper call script, visit www.chirohealthusa.com/shoppercalls.
Kristi Hudson is a certified professional compliance officer (CPCO). She serves as the Director of Business Relationships for ChiroHealthUSA where she has helped to educate DCs and CAs on establishing simple and compliant financial policies. You can contact Kristi at [email protected], 888-719-9990 or you can visit the ChiroHealthUSA website at www.chirohealthusa.com.
