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How to Follow-Up AFTER the Consult

Most plastic surgery staff do NOT know how to follow-up AFTER the consult and that’s why their conversion rates are low.

Let’s face it….Its easier to only focus on the patients who moved forward with their surgery and never on the ones who said no or just never said yes.

Your staff will tell you they don’t like to push prospective patients who haven’t decided and they will add that it makes you look desperate, hoping you agree so they don’t have to do it!

Here’s a typical scenario:

Hmmm….

You thought you had a great consultation with your prospective patient, Sara.

She seemed to get along well with your staff, you thought you had a good consultation with her because she asked a lot of questions and you had a good connection…at least you thought you did.

So you meet with your coordinator later that day and learn that Sara ended up saying, “I gotta think about it” and walked out the door.

Then you find out later in the week that your coordinator emailed Sara but she hasn’t heard back so Sara is dropped in the “dead leads” file.

You move onto the next consultation that you hope converts and the cycle continues…

Patient Loyalty Program Retains Patients

Why Didn’t The Consult Book?

Since cosmetic rejuvenation is a very personal as well as emotional decision, there are all sorts of reasons why the prospective cosmetic patient didn’t book….

–  Maybe the downtime was too much for them.

–  Maybe the reality of surgery and general anesthesia scared them away.

–  Maybe they couldn’t afford it or didn’t have a way to comfortably pay for it.

Or, maybe they got bad news that morning and weren’t in the right mind frame. Or a dozen other benign things could have happened that had nothing to do with you.

It could have had everything to do with their frame of mind at the time that prevented them from moving forward.

The point is people change, their moods change and their circumstances change so you can never assume anything.

The patient’s reluctance to connect with you after the consultation could just be a simple, “Not Now” or “Not Yet”.  You just don’t know.

How To Follow Up AFTER the Consult?

If the prospective patient can’t or won’t make a decision during the consultation or says they have to think about it, don’t push.  For whatever reason, they are just not ready to book.

So rather than hope they call you back when they ARE ready, here’s a really effective proactive strategy to get you closer to the finish line:

Hold something back in the consultation that your patient coordinator can follow-up with when you reach out later.

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Example #1:  Competition

Let’s say Sara, the prospective patient wants a Mommy Makeover.  She mentions at the end of her consultation with your coordinator that she’ll be going on three more consults to do her due-diligence and you happen to be her first visit. Ugh!

Your coordinator can now email Sara your  “Checklist of Questions to Ask the Surgeon During Your Mommy Makeover Consultation”.

Now fill the checklist with questions you can say yes to that your competitors may not be able to; i.e., you have performed an above-average number of Mommy Makeovers, etc.

And, fill it with patient stories and photos of OTHER Mommy Makeover patients just like them who have had the procedure.  Add their contact information or at least an invitation to set your happy and satisfied patients up to talk with Sara about their experience.

Now your coordinator calls Sara and says:

““Hi Sara, it’s Kim from Dr. Smith’s office. It was so great to meet you the other day. I know you’re thinking it over and I had an idea that may help. I thought of a special checklist Dr. Smith wrote about Mommy Makeovers that would help you get the most from the consultations you’re going on. I just emailed it over to you so please take a look and let me know if it’s helpful to you. Ok?

Example #2:   Finance

Let’s say Sara told you she needs to think about it because it’s a lot of money and she’s not sure it’s worth it. She did mention she wants to use her own credit card because she thinks the cosmetic finance company fees are too high.

So, knowing that, you call Sara the next day or two and say,

“Hi Sara, it’s Kim from Dr. Smith’s office. It was so great to meet you the other day. I know you’re thinking it over and I have some news that night help.  Our finance company just introduced a 0% Interest Pay Plan so you can have what you want now without you using your own credit card. How does that sound?

But now, you need to zip it and listen. Let Sara tell you what she thinks of that. It might be just what she needed to move forward.

Or, if it doesn’t budge her and she’s not excited about the new information, at least you have a better feel for where’s she’s at and you’ll want to try other strategies.

To get more proven, “Follow-Up AFTER the Consult” strategies,

Join me at The Converting Club for Coordinators to discover:

–       What you can do to get the prospective patient to take your follow-up phone calls or call you back excited to speak with you;

–       The number of times you should follow-up before you become pesky and ruin the new relationship you have with the prospective patient;

–       What the prospective patient wants from you to help them decide if they should choose you or your competitor and so much more.

Once your staff learns how to follow-up AFTER the consult, you’ll see your conversion rates increase and your staff grow as a professional representing you.

Data Collected from Patient Surveys

TESTIMONIALS

5/5
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
Robert Sigal, MD
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Robert Langdon, MD
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
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Catherine Maley

Catherine Maley

Catherine is a business/marketing consultant to plastic surgeons. She speaks at medical conferences all over the world on practice building, marketing and the business side of plastic surgery. Get a Free Copy of her popular book, Your Aesthetic Practice: What Your Patients Are Saying View Author Profile.

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