Following up with potential patients will never happen if you don’t have a system in place. Maybe you have patient management software that will allow you to generate reports for patients that have broken appointments or unscheduled treatment…but do you have a way to follow up with people who call on the phone and don’t appoint that day?
Plenty of potential patients are going to call and ask you the standard questions, “Do you take my insurance?” or “What conditions do you treat?”. But not all of them are going to feel ready to schedule with your office right away. Those potential patients need to be followed up with a few days later.
Here are the top tips for putting a follow-up sales process in place for potential patients:
Create an Informative and Accurate Service Page
First things first, let’s talk about your service page. This is often the first point of contact for potential patients, so making a great impression is crucial. Ensure your service page is clear, informative, and easy to navigate. Include detailed descriptions of your services and any specializations or unique selling points that set you apart.
Don’t stop there, though. Make sure that your contact details are visible on every page of your website. Potential patients should be able to easily reach out to you with any questions or to schedule an appointment. You may also consider adding a contact form or live chat feature for added patient convenience.
Decide How to Capture the Information
It’s important that you teach your front desk or whoever is answering the phone how to handle it when someone calls and doesn’t schedule with you. Their role is instrumental in ensuring no potential patient falls through the cracks. Maybe they should create a spreadsheet where they can put the caller’s name and phone number and notes so someone can reach out later. Or you may want to create a patient profile for them if your system allows it without asking for a birthday or other pertinent information.
Whatever system you put in place should be something your front desk can do easily and stay consistent with. Otherwise, this information will fall by the wayside.
The Power of a Quick Response For Potential Patients
When a potential patient calls your practice, the speed of your response can make a significant difference. Aim to answer the phone within the first few rings or return missed calls promptly. This quick response not only demonstrates your respect for their time but also your commitment to delivering excellent customer service. It makes potential patients feel valued and respected, setting a positive tone for their interaction with your practice.
Wow Potential Patients With a Personalized Follow-Up
After speaking with a potential patient on the phone, take the time to follow up with a personalized message. This could be a thank you email for their call, a reminder of the services you discussed, or a request for feedback on their experience. These follow-ups show potential patients you care about their needs. They will feel important and valued.
Following up with potential patients is a key strategy for turning leads into loyal patients. Start by sending a personalized follow-up email or text after an initial inquiry. Offer to help with any questions they may have and thank them for their interest. If you don’t hear back, don’t hesitate to follow up again. This persistence reassures potential patients that they are not forgotten and can help in converting them into loyal patients.
Record Calls and Form Submissions
There are so many things that are happening at the front desk that can make it hard for them to get a caller’s name and information to call back. That’s why it is important to record the organic calls that are coming into the office. Here at Functional Medicine SEO, we put call tracking on our client’s websites so that they can follow-up with all organic calls to see what happened with them. This not only helps in tracking potential leads but also in improving customer service and training staff.
We use a system called Callrail to capture this information. Callrail is a call tracking and analytics platform that provides businesses with call tracking and analytics. It also has the ability to record the calls so you are able to go back and listen later on. Of course, you need to know the laws in your state before recording calls. In addition, to call tracking, you can have all contact forms or free consult forms emailed to whoever you want to manage these leads.
Make it Someone’s Job to Follow-up With Leads
It should be someone’s job to follow-up with the potential patients that call your office or submit a form request. Otherwise, it will fall by the wayside and those potential patients will either forgo treatment altogether or go to another office. By making follow-up someone’s job, potential patients feel prioritized and not forgotten. A quick check-in call to see how they’re doing or to answer any questions they may have can go a long way in building trust and rapport.
Follow-up calls can also help ease potential patients’ concerns about scheduling an appointment. We recommend that you follow up with potential patient leads the same day they come in through form submissions. If the caller asks questions and they aren’t ready to schedule, call them back in 2 days to follow up. Until you reach a decision-maker and get a no, they should stay on the list for following up.
Contact us Today To Help Increase Leads
Here at Functional Medicine SEO, we work with practitioners to provide them with new leads. We do this through our SEO and Google ads services. Our SEO experts will write new content every month for your website and optimize the existing pages on the site to increase your organic traffic.
For more information or to set up a free strategy session, please fill out our form here. Our free strategy session is a one-on-one discussion of your marketing strategies and goals and how we can help you achieve them. We can’t wait to talk to you!
