A successful and profitable aesthetic medical practice requires highly trained and knowledgeable employees who thrive on results. Knowing what to say and how to best position specific information is essential to ensure potential patients feel confident enough to book in their chosen procedure, following their first initial consultation. Neglecting formal training is no longer feasible when many patients have often done extensive research before initial inquiry. Furthermore, the challenge will arise when patients are not sure what procedure is most appropriate. Promptly establishing the desired result a patient is aiming for greatly depends on how confident employees are.
Sales training should be based on complete awareness of the decision process a patient will apply. Skilled patient advisors or coordinators need to have sufficient skills and knowledge to adequately address concerns, establish trust, and nurture long-lasting patient relationships.
Knowing how to build confidence with a potential patient quickly and understanding why a potential patient wants a specific procedure is not a simple process. Considering the reasons why a patient is considering a procedure requires clearly outlined steps followed in order. There are proven ways to achieve consistent patient bookings, for both an initial consultation and a procedure that you can implement into onboarding and ongoing training of all staff in your aesthetic practice.
Customized Solution Screens/Frameworks for Patient Advisors/Coordinators
Regardless of the background experience and previous sales results, when a patient advisor/coordinator joins your aesthetic practice, they need to understand that you want them to tailor their approach to meet your individual practice goals.
Providing a customized solution screen/framework is proven to increase the number of potential patients who book an initial consultation and, consequently, an aesthetic procedure. Additionally, providing this structure to patient advisors or patient coordinators will help them remain focused on your individual practice goals long term.
The nature of a patient advisor/coordinator’s role means that they need to know what to discuss with potential patients and assess if an inquiry has the potential to become a paying patient. Training your employees to be competent when answering initial inquiries can take considerable time.
Providing dedicated support and the materials required to encourage employees who want to continue learning and developing their personal sales skills and understanding, alongside ongoing training, maybe better outsourced to achieve high conversion rates consistently.
Lower absence rates and higher retention rates have also been linked with employees that feel capable of achieving set goals and know they will receive all the instruction they require to progress in their chosen role.
The Relevance of Patient Advisors/Coordinators
Patient advisors or patient coordinators are usually the first contact a potential patient has with aesthetic practice. This interaction can be the sole reason a potential patient chooses to book an initial consultation. Patients who have been prepared during their initial inquiry with appropriate knowledge and understanding of the procedure and the results they can realistically expect are far more likely to proceed and be happy with the results of their chosen procedure.
Another significant advantage of screening potential patients more thoroughly is the increased potential that the patients you consult will have the financial means in place already to be able to book in a procedure.
Additionally, preparing a potential patient for a consultation will save valuable time during the initial consultation with the surgeon or nurse who will perform their procedure.
Consequently, the combination of ensuring your patient advisor or coordinator has the essential sales skills to close during the various stages of a patient inquiry will be the percentage of initial inquiries that convert into a sale (patient conversion).
Regular and structured sales training is the only reliable way to ensure patient advisors or coordinators impart information, leading to a noticeable increase in conversions and practice revenue—consultation with a potential patient who is ready and willing to listen to the practitioners.
Set up for success for patient advisors/coordinators
Patient advisors or patient coordinators need to impart information to potential patients without providing medical advice. During an initial call from a potential patient, the advisor needs to quickly establish the potential patient’s desired goal to install confidence. The adviser should feel they know how to competently explain the procedure to give a patient the highest potential for an optimum result.
During the call, the adviser must ensure the patient understands that their physiology will impact the result, and until they have had a consultation, it is not fair or correct to advise of what can be achieved. This needs to be explained to create a personal connection and build a grounding for the consultation with the practitioner who will perform the procedure. Screening a patient without asking questions that are not appropriate requires more than intuition.
Elite Med Sales Training and Consulting can provide bespoke packages to prepare and support your employees throughout all aspects of the patient’s cycle, from the initial inquiry to building and maintaining a long term relationship. Significant and meaningful patient interactions are unavoidably the key to smoother and quicker consultation that increases the number of patients who go ahead with a procedure.
Sales Training Essentials
The team – Everyone in the team needs to understand how their individual beliefs and knowledge may impact their interactions and how they listen to the potential patient.
The patient cycle – All employees should understand the patient cycle, from considering a procedure to booking the procedure most appropriate to meet the results they desire.
Closing the sale – Skills need to be taught to enable efficient closing and booking consultations for prospective patients who have a serious intention to proceed with the procedure.
Personal connection – Prospective patients want to feel a personal connection, know their objectives and reasons for wanting a procedure have been understood and feel comfortable enough to reach out for advice or information at any point.
To find out how Elite Med Sales Training and Consulting will make all employees have met specific required standards, please get in touch.
During the initial meeting, we will discuss how best to proceed with a tailored training package that will result in higher conversion rates and secure your practice’s future growth.
