The #1 way to make sure your PTs’ schedules are full this holiday season by having an effective PT marketing plan. But what do you do when a patient calls to cancel an appointment?
Neil interviewed Dee Bills, Front Office Guru & Founder of Fix Your Front Desk, to learn how to overcome patient objections this holiday season. Here’s how Dee took her clinic from a 75% show-up rate to a 95% show-up rate!
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#1. Be Preventative and Proactive, Not Reactive.
“There’s a perception of busyness or stress around the holidays. You have people who are getting better who think ‘maybe I don’t need this’. So how do you handle that objection?
“You don’t want to be pushy. Any time you induce force into something, people push back. We need to handle our patients to guide them where we want them to go. When you become the guide, they are more likely to follow you.”
A final word: “When you’re being reactive, something bad has already happened and now you’re trying to regain control. When you’re proactive, you can guide patients where you want them to go. So, you need to script things around prevention.”
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#2. Control the Schedule.
“Your Front Office team has to understand that their sole role in the practice is controlling the schedule. We don’t want 10 same-day cancellations. That makes the front office less efficient. Now they’re scrambling to call around and get patients to take spots.
“If I can prevent a same-day cancellation and get 24 hours’ notice, then I can help someone else get in for care.”
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#3. Call Your Front Office Team “Patient Care Coordinators.”
“I’m trying to change the mindset that’s out there about calling people a ‘Front Office Rep.’ What does the word rep even mean? Do they just stand there? Calling your team ‘Patient Care Coordinators’ really describes what I want my team to do. They are Patient Care Coordinators; their job is to manage patients, to manage their care, so my Physical Therapists can actually treat you.
“When the front office doesn’t understand their role, there’s more frustration. The PTs step in where they shouldn’t, which makes them inefficient as providers. There’s confusion, and that’s where reactiveness kicks in.
“When Patient Care Coordinators see themselves as someone with a valuable role in the practice, they will take control of the patient experience instead of just answering calls. That helps them as humans, too.”
Listen to the podcast!
Did you like this blog? Listen to the whole conversation on the PT Marketing Power Hour podcast! Available wherever podcasts are found.
