A unique selling proposition template for tracking the patient journey and converting leads
The patient journey for a new patient in your practice begins when you first enter their consciousness as a potential solution to their problem. This qualifies the person as a “lead.”
A lead is an individual who has a problem your practice can solve, and whose attention you have captured. Despite the belief of many chiropractors to the contrary, the primary goal of marketing is not to convert leads into new patients. This is the role of the sales process. The goal of marketing is to capture the attention of someone who has a problem you can solve.
The myth of lead quality
Once your marketing has attracted someone’s attention, many chiropractors are under the impression that based upon their education, training and skills, that people should rush to schedule an appointment. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
This results in chiropractors becoming frustrated, thinking that there are no “quality” leads in their area. There are countless quality leads in your community, and your competition in capturing their attention is not the other chiropractors or health care providers in the area — it is human nature. When confronted with a decision to change their behavior, the default setting for most individuals is not to choose an alternative to your practice. It is to do nothing at all. Your job is to motivate them to take action.
Most chiropractors understand that it is much easier to convert someone referred by a source known to the person than a “cold” lead who has had no other frame of reference against which to compare your practice. “My wife referred me” can be the sweetest sound to a chiropractor’s ears. However, the key to unlimited new patients and infinite practice growth lies in your ability to convert cold leads into new patients.
Adopt the mindset that every lead has a potential lifetime value for your practice that is a multiple of the value of their current purchase. This will magnify the value of each patient journey encounter with cold leads and can motivate you through the conversion process.
The lead conversion (sales) process
Health care providers typically deign being thought of as participating in sales. They feel that it is beneath their status as professionals.
If it is helpful, think of sales as lead conversion. Lead conversion is the process of converting someone’s attention into action. This process is reproducible and is easy to follow and repeat. It has clearly defined steps and goals (green lights) at each step. It is results-oriented, and it is clear when each step is accomplished.
Most importantly, the sales/lead conversion process is measurable. Something that can be measured can be managed. A combination of measurement and management, with consistent course correction, leads to an improvement in the process and your results.
The 5-step sales process
Once your marketing has captured someone’s attention and the patient journey has begun, there are five steps in the sales process:
- Build Rapport
- Discover Needs
- Offer Solution
- Handle Objections and Close
- Follow Up and Repeat
Let’s review some pro tips for the successful completion of each step in the process.
Tips for building rapport during the patient journey
When seeking to build rapport with someone, the first step is to be your genuine self. People can instantly sense when you are not being sincere. Be open and friendly.
We tend to like people who are like us. Mirroring and matching mannerisms and speech, including tone and speed, improves the sense of connection someone experiences when interacting with you. If you are with a slow talker, slow your pace down. If you are with someone who prefers to speak at a more rapid pace, pick yours up. Show real interest in the person.
One reason many chiropractors say they became health care providers is that they are motivated by an interest in helping other people. Be curious about the person, their background, life experiences and who they are as a human being. We all love to be complimented. Give compliments when appropriate. You’ll know when they land correctly from the smile they produce on the face of the receiver.
The green light indicating you have achieved rapport and are ready for the next step can be seen in the person’s body language. Look for leaning in, head nodding and an open demeanor.
Tips for discovering needs
It is not uncommon for the sales novice to rush to the “close” at this point in the process. Don’t rush to solve the person’s problem, even when you think they might be an excellent candidate for care. Take the time to dig deeper.
It’s been said that we have two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we speak. This is never truer than in the needs discovery process. Have a list of open-ended questions that help the person express the needs underlying their desire to seek a solution.
Ask, “How long have you been dealing with this?” “What else have you tried to solve your problem?” “How did that work out for you?” and “What would happen if you didn’t do anything?” Recap what you’ve heard by paraphrasing the person’s responses in your own words. This tells the listener that you are a doctor who is really hearing them and that you are identifying their true needs. This is the most important step in the patient journey to not drop the ball.
This is not the time to show off how much you know. It’s the time to show off how much you care—by listening. Remember that everyone’s favorite radio station is WII-FM (What’s In It For Me). The green light indicating you have successfully accomplished needs discovery is that you have jotted down a list of the patient’s highest-priority needs. Note any specific needs that the prospect is most expressive, emotional or enthusiastic about. These will be especially useful when closing.
The patient journey: tips for offering a solution
Another rookie mistake is to sell your service and not the solution. The purchase of a hand drill at a hardware store provides an excellent example. No one ever bought a drill because they wanted a drill. They bought a drill because they wanted a hole in something. Remember that you are selling the benefits of the hole and not the drill.
In chiropractic, no one ever became a new patient because they wanted an adjustment. What they wanted were the benefits of that adjustment: pain relief, less stress, better sleep and so on. Your job in offering a solution is to connect the dots between your service and the solution to the person’s problem. You do this by connecting the prospect’s needs, challenges and desires with the features and benefits of your service.
This is why the needs discovery step is essential. You must know what the person’s needs are before you attempt to solve them. We’ll review some of the most common needs in the next step when we review how to handle the most common objections people have to starting care. The green light for solution offering is that you have clearly connected the benefits of care at your practice to the prospect’s needs.
Tips for handling objections and closing
A useful acronym for the most common objections you will encounter in the sales process is: MT NUT.
M represents money. Most people have, or can get access to, the money for care but will only spend it if they see the value. Listen and confirm if money is really the issue and provide solutions, including budget-sized payment plans and financing when appropriate.
T represents time. Most people don’t make time for themselves. This is especially true with busy moms who tend to put the needs of their family before their own. If you spark their interest, people will make the time for your care.
N represents need. If there is no evident need, draw out the need with open-ended questions.
U represents urgency. Most buyers look for the “right time.” They must feel the need to take action now. Sell the pain of not making a decision. Let them weigh the benefits of action versus the consequences of not taking action.
T represents trust. In the end, it comes down to whether your prospect believes in you and your service or not. The more confident you are in connecting your solution with their problem, the more successful you will be in generating trust.
Keep a log of recurring questions and concerns. Note which of your responses produce the best resolution to them. Practice them and repeat them when called for in the future. Take the pressure off yourself to close the sale. Closing is not a stand-alone event. It is only one step in the process. Tune in to buying signals and clues. Don’t give too many options and remember to close the sale. The green light in handling objections and closing is that the person agrees to become a patient.
Tips for following up
Send a post-first-visit text with a video or make a post-first-visit phone call. This helps confirm the person’s decision to undertake care and combats the feelings of buyer’s remorse. Prepare a New Patient Welcome Kit that includes a practice brochure and some cool branded swag.
Most importantly, establish lines of communication and keep them open and engaging with high-value content that reinforces the patient’s decision to experience chiropractic care. The green light for follow-up is an important level of patient retention and referrals.
With practice, in no time you’ll be converting more prospects into new patients and more new patients from one-time patients into lifetime patients.
MARK SANNA, DC, ACRB Level II, FICC, is a member of the Chiropractic Summit and a board member of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. He is the CEO of Breakthrough Coaching and can be reached at mybreakthrough.com or 800-723-8423.
