Every day in RevaHealth.com we talk to clinics that seem to be determined to destroy their own business. They do it the same way that thousands of businesses all over the world do it every year: by not selling to new customers.
When these clinics are contacted by a potential new patient they take the easy way out and send an automatic email reply. Some of them even go as far as sending a personalised follow up email, but neither of these actions is sufficient. To sell to these new customers you have to pick up the phone and call them.
Recently we looked at data from literally hundreds of thousands of email enquiries that have come in through RevaHealth.com and we can say definitively that if your clinic relies on email alone to convert your patient enquiries into paying customers you are cutting your new business by 80%.
Take for example one particular clinic that received over 400 enquiries over the course of a year, and never called any of the patients. Not surprisingly they had a very low conversion rate and weren’t particularly happy with us. Unfortunately they didn’t heed our advice to call the patents and relied on email alone, and in the process they left hundreds of thousands of Euro on the table.
Failing to call your new customers will damn your business and wastes the customer’s time.
Now imagine what your business would look like if you could increase the amount of new business that you get by 500%.
It’s easy to understand why some clinics don’t like to call potential patients. It can be difficult to get your staff to do it promptly, and it is time consuming, but when you realise how much value it can unlock, there is no question but that it has to be done.
When you get an online enquiry into your inbox the natural inclination is the reply to it immediately. Don’t. Take your time read the customers requirement and research the information that you need and CALL them. That’s right don’t email them back, call them.
The process should be:
- Send an automated response acknowledging receipt of the enquiry and letting the patient know when to expect a call from your clinic.
- Research their enquiry – potential treatment options, prices, length of treatment etc.
- Call Them. If you don’t get through leave a message and call them back. Never rely on email alone unless the customer has specifically asked not to be called.
Pick Up The Phone!
Now for the even more surprising finding: nothing else matter as much to the patient as calling them. Not your prices, not your location, not your facilities, not even your qualification has as much of an influence on your ability to convert an enquiry into a customer. They all help, but if you don’t do the customer the simple courtesy of calling them they will not consider going to your clinic.
Happy Customers
This is not something that is still up for discussion. IT IS A FACT. If you want to convert enquiry to customers you must call them. Otherwise you are wasting everyone’s time. A patient will never come to your clinic without you calling them. They will go to the clinic that calls them back.
I couldn’t agree more Caelen, and I believe that calling rather than inviting people to call you is crucial. I believe there’s nothing more important than personally speaking to the customer, but there’s a caveat – make sure you’re fully aware of the extend of your phone-skills. If you feel you’re not confident enough on the phone, seek training – fast! Especially if you’re dealing in medical tourism. I think there’s no greater wrong than a language barrier on your first conversation with a potential new patient. Treatment research is also important, as what’s more important than knowledge – and I mean the patient’s knowledge. Make them understand their procedure, and they’ll feel confident about it. And remember that people can hear you smiling on the phone!
Seems to me you’ve identified a real service opportunity here. A lot of clinics aren’t set up with a marketing / sales department, just with a receptionist, and they aren’t naturally going to be good at calling people back, and they don’t necessarily have enough volume of callbacks to make it viable to hire someone full-time in that role. Shouldn’t Reva consider setting up its own callback operation so that small clinics can outsource that part of the process to you? That way the clinics get calls made in a timely way by trained, specialist staff. If you’re boosting their conversion rate by 500% there’s got to be enough value in it to keep everyone happy. Seems like a natural direction for you to explore. It fits in with your move in the direction of providing general CRM services to small and mid-size medical businesses.
This is absolutely true. So many offices and clinics are caught up in the day to day operations and and they don’t think about “business development” or patient outreach. Or they are understaffed and just trying to keep up.