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What is a Good Conversion Rate?

Ask Catherine

This Week’s Question: What is a good conversion rate?

Dear Catherine,

I would like to know what is a good conversion rate? I had the same patient consultant for many years and she did a great job.

We made a really good team. I performed several procedures on her through the years so she was a great testimonial and she knew how to credential me as the best. She was also very good with my patients and really good at closing consultations.

I never realized how good she was until her husband was promoted and she moved away.

My current coordinator has been on the job for the past year and we are getting mixed results.

She’s nice enough but we don’t get the same results I used to get.

My consult conversion rate used to be in the high 70’s for years and it’s dropped significantly. My coordinator says that’s because the patients are price shopping our competitors and our prices are too high.

I’m not sure that’s true. I don’t know if it’s the patients or the coordinator or something else.

Can you tell me what is a good conversion rate?

Dr. W

Catherine’s Answer:

Dear Dr. W,

Thank you reaching out and asking such a loaded question.

You are not alone. Lots of plastic surgeons are experiencing sporadic conversion rates. Or “feast or famine” months and they’re not sure why.

This inconsistency can wreak havoc on your day, your attitude and your pocketbook.

You start questioning yourself and doubting your staff and that’s a path to even more frustration. So what’s really happening?

Well, the bad news is, there’s no one easy answer. So many variables go into your success (or lack thereof) when converting consults.

Here’s a short list of why your conversions “could” have dropped:

  • Your SEO isn’t working like before because google changed the rules; i.e., is your Website “responsive” so it’s mobile-friendly? If not, you’re being penalized in your search results;
  • A new competitor came to town and is out-marketing you;
  • You changed up your marketing strategy and while you’re getting more Internet leads, they are poor quality leads;
  • Your coordinator has never had work done so she’s not a great walking/talking testimonial for you;
  • Your coordinator needs more converting skills to get to a YES, etc.

Because the reality is your efforts don’t count until the patient says YES and PAYS for your services, right?

That’s where your patient coordinator comes in. Granted, consults are more difficult to close when they are “Internet Stranger Patients” versus word-of-mouth referrals patients. It can be the difference between a 15-20% to 70-80% closing rate.

Which is why your coordinator must be on her game to convert these consults to the best of her ability.

Here are some suggestions to help you get your conversion rates up:

#1: Your coordinator must professionally position you as the BEST CHOICE above your competitors.

First, your coordinator must believe in YOU, your skills as a surgeon and truly believe you are the best choice so she can present you as such to your prospective patients.

The easiest way for your coordinator to close more consults is to show off her own results from your skills and expertise. That turns her into a personal story teller about her own journey and immediately builds trust and credibility with the prospective patient who can see for themselves, results they, too, can expect.

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#2: She must have powerful rapport-building skills to quickly bond with your prospective patients so they connect.

Consider what a difficult conversation this is to have with a complete stranger. The cosmetic patient is uncomfortable with their appearance so they are feeling vulnerable and anxious.

The coordinator’s job is to put them at ease and reassure them they are in the right place and will be happy with their result when they decide to move forward.

Your coordinator must have a process set up and powerful questions to ask, as well as tools, to help the patient articulate what they want, why they want it and what it will take for them to say YES.

#3) Your Patient Coordinator MUST “Comfortably and Confidently” close by asking for a decision.

So many practices have patient coordinators who are nice and look the part but have no idea how to ASK FOR A DECISION.

This one skill is a practice game changer when you have a skilled professional representing you.

But like anything else in life, it’s a learned skill. It takes proven strategies and practice.

For example, a trained and skilled patient coordinator is never pushy or aggressive. They have the words and scripts and processes they follow to “lead” the patient to a decision that is comfortable for the patient.

For example, a simple closing strategy is using an “assumptive” statement to help the patient make a decision. So, after your coordinator presents the quote, she confidently goes back to the computer and says,

“Sara, since Dr. Smith is pretty booked out, let me give you some dates we still have available to give you an idea of when you can have this done.”

If Sara doesn’t object, she is moving closer to a decision and you are that much closer to a yes so keep going.

To get more proven strategies to convert more consultations to booked procedures, check out The Converting Club for Coordinators.

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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