The truth about new cosmetic patient leads is that there is nothing fast, easy or cheap about them for plastic surgeons today.
While you do have many options to get noticed from your Internet efforts, new plastic surgery leads are going to cost you either time or money….or both. For example,
➢ Social Media and videos are typically separate from content so you add another $1K per month to outsource that,
BUT, there’s a huge drawback to all of the above efforts. It takes time to build up your credibility, exposure and authority status for prospective plastic surgery patients to know about you. How much time? Months and years, but you’re impatient for results so….
….you skip all of that and just “Pay to Play” by throwing money at google adwords to run plastic surgery lead ads and hope prospective plastic surgery patients click on your ad that cost you $5-$100 PER CLICK. This route can cost you $5K – $250K per month depending on how competitive your area is and how much your competitors are willing to outbid you.
So you spend a bucket load of money to get incoming leads and the question is……
“What happens next?”
I think you’ll be shocked at the stats for cosmetic patient lead follow up:
– 48% NEVER Follow Up
– Average First Follow Up is 72 Hours Later
– The likelihood of contacting a prospective patient decreasing 10X between 5-10 minutes
– Chances increase 900% if the prospective patient is contacted in the first 10 minutes
How crazy is it to spend a fortune on lead generation but not spend any (or enough) time on the back-end process?
Why Do So Many Practices Fail at Cosmetic Lead Generation Follow-Up?
The truth about new cosmetic patient leads is that your staff may not be following up on them. When I ask staff why they don’t follow up on plastic surgery leads, here’s what they tell me:
• Too many leads
• Don’t know what to say
• No concise plan
• Not Required
• Not organized
• Afraid of rejection
• Social Training (don’t be pushy)
• No commitment to excellence
Let me be blunt here. These excuses are costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars but you don’t see it because it’s the invisible No’s you are getting from bad management of leads.
You have got to see new cosmetic patient leads through in a systematic way or they fall through the cracks and you just pour more money into the top of the bucket only to have it flow out of the holes at the bottom of the bucket.
My Advice: Fix Your Leaky Bucket!
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3 Ways to Turn Your Plastic Surgery Leads Into Paying Patients
There’s a huge opportunity for those practices that follow up consistently, strategically and professionally.
Did you know that only 3% of prospective patients searching the Internet are actually ready to move forward NOW?
That means you’ve got to be there when the patient is ready and you stand out as the best solution FIRST – before your competitors jump into the ring. Here’s how:
#1) Call-to-Action Options
Be convenient to do business with. Patients come in all shapes, sizes and generations. Let them communicate the way they are most comfortable communicating.
Some patients want to pick up the phone and call you so have your phone number on EVERY page of your website;
Other patients want to text you so provide a text number;
Still others want to email you so provide a personal email; and
And some prospective patients will fill out your web form but don’t ask for too much on this first encounter. Stick with the basics on your opt-in Web form:
• Name
• Cell phone
• Email
• Procedure interested in
#2) Collapse Time
The 1st to follow up has a 248% greater chance of converting that lead vs. the 2nd or 3rd who followed up.
Be in a hurry to help so you are the first one there when patients are ready.
That means getting a practice cell phone that is manned by staff live from, let’s say, 7am – 11pm and an app that alerts you when someone fills out your Website form or calls your practice after these hours so you can respond first thing in the morning.
Better yet, auto-text them immediately to let them know you received their request and you’ll get back to them first thing in the morning.
Even better, you will get back to them but, in the meantime, here’s a link to check out your YouTube videos to get to know you better and you look forward to speaking with them first thing in the morning.
The bonding process begins the second they reach out to you so use today’s technology to make it happen.
#3) Follow Up Scripts for Hot Leads
Does your staff know what to say when following up on incoming cosmetic patient leads that lead to booking a consult? If not, this should help….
Staff needs to “mind their mindset”.
Don’t treat this call as a “sales” call.
Treat it as a “customer service” call.
Said another way, you are NOT SELLING. You are SERVICING a prospective cosmetic surgery patient who wants to look good and feel great.
Remember, this prospective patient found you on the Internet, checked you out and reached out to you. That’s a massive step towards a surgical procedure so be prepared to handle it professionally.
Ask questions and listen during that initial call. For example,
“Hi, this is Sue from Dr. X’s office. I am calling you back about your recent inquiry and wanted to see how I can help you. What questions can I answer for you?”
Now listen to what they want and learn why they want it. Let them talk! The more they talk, the more you learn and the more comfortable they get with you.
Here are other questions to help you bond with the cosmetic surgery patient caller:
– What do you want exactly?
– How long has this bothered you?
– Why do you want it NOW?
– Has anyone you know had it done? If so, what was their experience like?
– Have you done much research?
– What’s most important to you when choosing a surgeon?
Now give them a couple of dates/times they can visit with you and let them pick one.
Easy Breezy.
So, the truth about new cosmetic patient leads is that it takes work to turn them into paid procedures.
Give your patient coordinator the training they need to convert more leads.
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"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."
"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."
"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%."
"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. "
"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!"
"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."
“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.”
"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!"
"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!"
"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."
"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!"
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.
