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Who is actually responsible for “selling” in your practice?

One benefit of working deeply with refractive practices across the country (and having a network of rockstar industry folks): we get a great vantage point to identify trends and arising opportunities.

And this is an advantage because it allows our clients to jump on good opportunities early and reap the rewards. And on the flip side, we can also see upcoming pitfalls our clients need to AVOID so they can continue to grow and be successful.

(Avoiding mistakes is often the more important of the two. Check out The Road Less Stupid, a whole book on this concept)

I’m seeing a common theme that’s concerning me, not so much with our clients but in other practices I talk to. And it’s time for me to sound the alarm…

I call it the “pigeonholing of sales.” Which is this too-common idea that sales within a practice happens in the confines of a small, specific department – the surgery schedulers.

(Some practices think sales has NO place in their office at ALL, which is WILD. Keep reading to find out why…)

For example, a practice will reach out to us to train them to book more surgeries, and we’ll talk about who on the team needs the coaching.

“Our patient counselors.” Yes, AND…? “Just them.” Therein lies the issue.

While these folks might have the most visible sales element to their job role, let me be clear:

EVERY person in your practice is selling SOMETHING.

They just aren’t selling in the traditional way you might think of selling.

“My phone team is in sales?” Yes they are, they’re selling a consult.

“What about my techs?” They’re selling your process and trust in it.

Front desk sells experience. Counselors sell dreams and logistics.

“Even my doctors!?!” YES, even them. They sell authority and confidence.

Of course I could go another 1,000 words on each of these, but you get the point.

EVERYBODY in your practice is selling SOMETHING. And each of these “sub-sales” engagements all drive toward the ultimate conversion – the conversion to surgery.

To do this effectively, you must check certain boxes. Each team member needs to know:

WHAT they are selling in their position
WHY they are selling it
HOW to sell it

And all that packaged in such a way that everyone is actually excited to do their particular sales role (not hesitant or anxious)

Do you see why “just give them a script” isn’t nearly enough to get your team where they need to be? It takes so much more than reciting the ‘right’ words…

Because everyone needs to be on the same page and everyone needs to be able to check those 3 boxes for their specific roles. 👆🏻

That’s what it takes to create a winning, dominant practice culture and brand.

And my hope is after reading this, some people are like “Ok, you made me think a little differently about sales.”

That IS the point. It’s the same “think differently” approach we take with our coaching clients, and it’s what we teach them to do with your prospective patients. (h/t to Apple)

A person may not be interested in working out, even if they know it’ll be good for them. BUT if I can help them think differently about working out… then make it easy for you to do… they’re probably in (or at least willing to give it a chance.)

So we need to help your team THINK DIFFERENTLY about their job roles and how it relates to surgery conversion, and make it easy for them to do their “sales” role. And you can book more consults and surgery.

We are preparing to launch our new Cataract Conversion Bootcamp, where one of the key components is diving into everyone’s sales role in the practice – the details on the what, why and how, AND how to be totally comfortable and confident in it.

For our current Coaching clients – this is included in as an elite member of our E3 Coaching Community. For anyone else, we’re opening up 5 spots for your team to come in and get a masterclass on cataract conversions over the next several weeks, just in time for Cat Season.

So if you are interested in one of those spots – if you wanna maximize your advanced technology conversions for cat surgery this fall – reply for more details and we’ll make sure you’re a good fit.

Go SELL something today…

T-Cole

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (musical lead followup)

Everyone thinks Kanye wrote it. Well, not everyone. But a lot of folks.

Yeezy released “Stronger” on his third studio album Graduation, which dropped in 2007. The familiar tune can be heard in commercials, sports stadiums and club around the world.

BUT….. West’s chart-topping track heavily sampled the original tune – a 2001 track from French electronic music duo Daft Punk – entitled “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.

If you’d like a nice soundtrack to the rest of this article, click here for the Daft Punk original. Turn it down to a reasonable volume within which you can still focus, yet loud enough to bob your head along as we dive into this.

Now, let’s talk shop:

A couple months ago, we teamed up with Zeiss on an epic webinar covering the results of their 100-practice “Digital Lead Secret Shop Study.” (The most comprehensive secret shop study ever done in the industry, from what I can tell).

It was me, Mike from Glacial, Dan Haddad and Carol-Anne from Zeiss. Discussing the data, sharing takeaways and recommendations for booking more leads into consults.

And based on the data in that study, combined with our experience in this game for 20 years, Daft Punk gives us the best 4-word summary for success in lead conversion. Let’s look at the data and see…

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (by the numbers)

HARDER – You’ve gotta go harder on new patient leads than any other calls / emails / contacts you have. Meaning prioritize them.

The data showed 43% of leads received a response AFTER 1 business day, OR not at all. This shows a lack of priority.

When a new lead comes through, it needs to be highlighted, and a siren needs to go off and it’s a red alert until someone reaches out to them. Because your practice is fueled by new leads turning into consults. They’re the lifeblood of your operations. So make sure everyone is treating them that way.

BONUS: Magically turn digital leads into phone calls so you aren’t trying to track as many patients down from the web. How? I got a guy for that.

Dan Haddad (who did the research study with Zeiss) has a fantastic tool that converts web leads into phone calls for your team to simply answer – easy to plug n play for your practice, and super cost-effective. Let me know if you want more info on it, I’ll make sure you get the T-Cole special.

BETTER – if you wanna turn more leads into consults, it also takes better quality lead followup. According to the study, more than 40% of leads were NOT contacted personally by a human.

Not only should EVERY lead be contacted by a person, but it should be a high-quality interaction. Positive, high-ish energy (whether you talk to them or leave a voicemail). Engaging. Add value.

Importantly, lead the interaction. You are the trusted advisor, not them. We train on this ad nauseam in our Green Room Coaching Community – how to lead, how to regain control, how to make patients feel like they are in charge while you still guide them where they ultimately need to go, etc.

And we’ll get into it even more in the upcoming “Specialty Tracks” Leadership is KEY to more conversions.

BONUS: you want everyone getting off the phone with you thinking, “Wow, that person really likes her job, and wants to make sure I’m taken care of. That must be a good practice.”

FASTER – we touched on this in the “harder” section – speed to lead is crucial. Get back to leads within 5 minutes for highest response rates. Data shows after 10 minutes, there’s a 400% drop-off rate in connections with leads.

And if that’s not enough, 78% of consumers will choose the first business to respond to their inquiry. Yet another reason FASTER is BETTER.

BONUS: What about evenings and weekends? Pay someone on your team to contact those leads for you in real-time. (And Dan’s software mentioned above can help too)

STRONGER – Be stronger from an endurance angle. How many times does it take to connect with a lead? HBR research tells us that 80% of sales leads require five follow-ups after the initial contact, but only 8% of salespeople actually follow up this many times.

So you need to be have strength and endurance in your followup. It’s often a marathon, not a sprint. But people too often get hung up on the number of times.

Bonus: To make this easier, think less about “how many times” or “on what cadence.” There’s no specific magic number (6+ should be your floor in the first 72 hours). And cadence should always be multiple touches in the first 48 hours (including 2 texts and 2 calls) and then recalibrate from there.

When trying to connect and get leads scheduled, you’re better off focusing around accomplishing these 3 steps:

Connect with them somehow
What is their “Why now?”
Next step to solve for “Why now?” (Book a consult)

Thinking of it in this manner opens the box of creativity for you, vs sticking to rigid scripts on a strict schedule and wondering why they aren’t working. With our short checklist, it becomes a challenge and makes it fun for you and the prospect.

Because there’s no guarantee JUST because you contact them 5, 8, 10 times that they’re gonna book… especially if you sound robotic, boring and needy.

Alright, enough for today. Share this with your team and get in touch with me for more info on any of the resources mentioned here, or if you just want more toe-tapping electronic jams.

– DJ T-Cole

PS – If you want a recording of the webinar where we went over all this, reply “webinar” and I’ll send that to you as well. Geez I’m full of goodies today…

Comparison is the Thief of Sales

Got a knock on my door Monday from two dudes who look like they just came from a Trump rally.

I was curious, so I answered. Figured they might be registering folks to vote or something.

Nope. They were selling solar with a company called “MagaWatts.” (Yes I spelled that correctly). Now my interest was DEFINITELY piqued. I had to figure out how they came up with this (brilliant?) idea.

So I met with them Mon AND Tuesday. NOT to buy solar, but to learn about their sales process. And after, I made pages of detailed notes about word tracks, strategies AND things to avoid, all lessons and tips learned from going through the MagaWatts sales process.

SIDE NOTE: Yes, you can and should be learning sales / comms / marketing from other industries. From other political parties. From other practices. Did I really want to do solar meetings this week? Um no. But I knew there would be something to learn for myself and for our clients. So I bit the bullet and checked it out, and I’m glad I did.

You may have heard the Teddy Roosevelt quote – “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Well it’s also the thief of sales IF you’re comparing the wrong things.

MagaWatts did not try to sell me solar panels in the traditional sense. “Here’s a panel, you need 20 of them, they’re $4000 each, so you’ll pay $80k.”

No, because then I would be comparing the price of their panels to other panels, and that’s not the comparison they want. They also know I don’t want ugly solar panels – I want the savings and energy independence they provide.

MagaWatts want me to compare the price of their service AS A WHOLE to the cost of electricity and the fact that it’s going up year over year.

The whole sales process was geared around this comparison. What I’m paying for electric now, how that will increase, how their goal is to offset my usage by over 100% because then the system pays for itself.

They never even gave me a full quoted price in the system. Just told me what my monthly rate would be, and how that compares to electric prices (and how it would only get better since energy is going up). And it looked like a no-brainer.

Having a customer internalize THAT comparison is much more favorable to them than me comparing MagaWatts to other solar companies on simply a price-per-service basis.

This applies to you and your team. Are you letting folks compare you to other practices? Or are you establishing the parameters for favorable comparison?

You price vs another practice’s price OR your price vs the massive ongoing cost of maintaining bad vision?

The risk of something going wrong (infinitesimal) vs the risk of continuing to wear contacts (much higher).

The recovery time vs the longevity of the results.

Plenty of ways to draw comparisons that keep you out of convos about you vs other places, or your price vs their price. Or spending the money vs not.

And honestly, it’s your duty to give people better ways to draw useful comparisons. The way MagaWatts is doing it is the right way. Because that’s the smart approach to make the decision from a financial standpoint.

MagaWatts – while they have not sold me anything yet – did a great job of establishing the comparison they want me to internalize.

Share this with your team and think about your comparisons going into next week…

Troy

PS – I am doing a full live breakdown of this sales experience in our “Sales in the Wild” series in our Green Room Coaching Community. So if you’re a member, be on the lookout for the invite. Lots of gold nuggets for you, and I’ll show you exactly how to take and apply them.

How to actually present comparisons
A nifty rapport trick you can use virtually any time (in person) to instantly get someone talking
How to put on your detective hat and get a lot of knowledge from only a little info
Why you don’t have to be a “sales person” in the traditional sense and how one of the guys, the least salesy looking one, actually got me to open up
Buying analogies and support materials they used
How to prep for common objections and slap them down
When and how to use benefits (they did this well in certain instances, and totally flubbed it in others…)
And more

Efficiency lesson from the world’s biggest TikTok personality

You may not know the name Khaby Lame, but you’ve more than likely seen his videos.

With more than 250 million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, it’s virtually impossible to get on social media and NOT scroll across a Khabi video.

If you clicked any of those links and watched one, it more than likely looked familiar to you.

Khaby started making videos during the pandemic, following a simple formula, that I call “The Caveman Approach”

He would find an already trending video of a “Life Hack” that overcomplicated a relatively simple task
He would share his (simplified) take on the process, typically a much easier way to accomplish the same task (“How would a Caveman do it?”)

(Perfect example on this Instagram post)

It’s no surprise that Khaby became a viral sensation when you look at the ingredients he’s using to bake his Uber-viral content.

A few examples:

His videos often don’t have any voiceover to them. Instead, he relies on the visual of the actual video and his own facial expressions to convey the message. This means it can be viewed by anyone in the world without the language barrier.
He’s utilizing already viral content and remixing it (adding his take to the end). So he knows, the clips he utilizing already have legs.
He keeps his content short, not a lot of dead time, and no overly complex edits. Simple, easy to consume, easy to understand.
He’s leveraged basically the same formula over the last four years to grow his massive following. He doubles down on what works, over and over and over.

Obviously if you re-read that list, there’s plenty of gold for you to takeaway and apply to your marketing efforts and sales processes.

The one I want to drill down on today is the nature of his videos themselves – his entire schtick is “Why are you overcomplicating this process when it could be way simpler?”

And I’m starting to see this more and more with the addition of tech tools, AI and automation within practices. Tasks are being overcomplicated with these tools, and we’re losing the efficiency and benefit of the Caveman Approach.

Story time:

I had a call earlier this week with a client on the East Coast, a smaller practice that receives 5-10 leads per day. We were discussing their need to improve their follow-up with non-converted leads, a great problem to address that will increase their surgery volume and revenue when solved.

Someone proposed a rather complex approach that involved multiple platforms, automations and tech integrations. It would have cost around $10,000 (to start) and taken 8 weeks (minimum) to build, test and launch. And then we still wouldn’t know if that actually solved their problem.

My approach is much simpler – have your best salesperson set aside 15 minutes a day (more if necessary) and manually follow-up and knock it out.

Why? A few very good reasons:

More cost-effective
Faster implementation
They can read the notes and customize the follow-up (vs. trying to do a “one-size-fits-all” automation)
They can test different approaches in real-time and determine what works better
They can then share their findings with the team to ensure everyone is operating with the best info available

It’s a simple solution with minimal cost that provides more value to the patient and can be implemented within 30 minutes of us talking about it. It’s simple.

This is just one example of many that I’m seeing with the introduction of all these cool tech tools.

And listen, I’m a tech-y guy. I like all the automation and the growth of AI, and there are many benefits to it. But there are also plenty of missteps that can be taken and cost you big $$ and lots of time, and I want to help you avoid it.

So when you’re looking at solving a problem, make sure you’re not discounting the Caveman Approach. Oftentimes, it’s the most effective.

Troy

Content is NOT King (but this is)

Guy working the counter at my gym made me feel like a total dumbass yesterday. Of course as a marketer and coach for high-profile, high-octane refractive and cataract practices, my first thought was “let me tell my people about this.”

(Because if you can benefit from my minor embarrassment, I’ll make that sacrifice for you…)

By the way, there’s a video version of this lesson on my IG right now if you want to check it out here.

Alright, story time:

I work out at the same gym 4-5 times a week. No frills, lots of weights and good machines, and the price is right.

I wrap up a taxing arm workout yesterday, grab my stuff and hit the road. Or so I thought.

I head to the door, push on it, and it won’t move. So I push again, and then pull. And my first befuddling thought is “Why are we locked in here?”

So the guy behind the desk notices me, and says, “Hey you gotta unlock it.” I look down, and sure enough there is a deadbolt. It’s situated on the left side of the door, so I did the natural move of trying to turn it right.

The guy says “No, you gotta turn it LEFT. Read the sign…”

So now I look and sure enough, there’s an InkJet-printed, ClipArt-style sign on the door instructing me to turn the dead bolt left to escape.

Mind you, I’ve exited this door 150, 200, 300 times? And never had an issue, never dealt with deadbolts, never needed a sign.

In fact I’m generally very good at door exiting. I wouldn’t say I’m perfect, but I’m elite. If there’s a door and I need to get through it, 99.99% chance I’m gonna figure out the path forward in a matter of seconds.

Yet here I am, looking like a doofus. Having put down my keys, water bottle, iPhone and AirPods, and now working the door with one hand and the lock with the other, I finally break free.

Dude says, “Yeah, you got it!”

I gave him a look. “So we’re doing this EVERY time now?”

“Yep!”

Fantastic.

Why was this so frustrating to me? Because I know with a few tweaks, the situation could have been so different. So let’s talk about the context:

This guy sees me there all the time.
He knows I am accustomed to their old way of opening the door.
He also knows they just updated the door opening procedure to a new way nobody is familiar with yet.
He also knows no patron / customer / client / guest has ever had to turn a deadbolt to leave a public/retail establishment.

Armed with all this valuable information, he could have created a completely different experience – and feeling in me – if he had simply leveraged the CONTEXT of the situation.

A common saying in Marketing is “Content is King.” Blogs, emails like this, videos, etc. And sure those things are important.

But Content does not rise to the level of Kingliness.

So if not content, what rules the Communications Kingdom?

Well… in marketing, in sales, in communications, in your everyday life, the secret is… “CONTEXT is king.”

For example in this situation – Context (which we just discussed) should lead him to think oh, here’s one of our valuable members who hasn’t messed with our weird new door lock yet. Let me show him how…

And he could simply say “Hey bro, we’re actually doing some security updates so we’ve swapped the lock mechanism. Let me show you real quick.” And give me a 10-second tutorial.

Bonus points if he commiserates with me using a line like, “and just remember to turn it left. I keep wanting to turn it right because of the side of the door it’s on, but it’s a lefty turn.”

So if he does this, what is he doing?

Understanding the context of my situation
Creating context for me so I better understand what’s happening

And if this hypothetical exchange happened vs what ACTUALLY happened… it would have been a night-and-day difference in the experience I had.

Yeah, I’d probably still think it was a little silly to unlock the door when I have to leave. But I wouldn’t have felt like an idiot, wasted my time or gotten frustrated.

And this is why context is king. Because today, your team will have 100s of interactions… large and small… on the phone, via SMS and in person…

And the CONTEXT of the situation informs (or SHOULD inform) the approach you take in your communication.

We touched on this in our Jam Session live coaching meetup earlier this week. So if you’re a Green Room member, check that out. (We’ll be doing more of a deep dive on it next week, and also discussing in our Role Play and other live coaching calls.)

Understand context, create context. This is a key element of leadership (and falls under the “Educate Into Awareness” pillar of our E3 Conversion System), and it ties directly into converting more leads to consults and consults to surgery.

For more info on our coaching programs, hit reply and ask away. I’ll have a few questions about your current situation, then once I know the CONTEXT, I can steer you in the right direction.

Go forth and practice leveraging context today, and enjoy your weekend.

T-Cole

PS – Bonus for you – a brief look into the context of the guy behind the counter.

He has his normal duties, and also had seen 200 people fiddle with the lock that day. He was probably tired of talking about it.

At the same time, it’s like… ‘solve your own problem.’ Test a more efficient, more friendly way of informing people on what’s going on. It’ll save you time and make the job more enjoyable AND create a better experience for everyone.

ALSO, tell the boss “Hey this new process is causing a lot of confusion. Here are some ideas can we do to change / educate / fix it?” Plenty more to say on that from my many in-office observations, but we’ll save it for another email…