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Simple Sales Tactic to Book More Consults: Use Names.

Quick note for you today on one simple change to help you book more consults:

Use names.

I’ve secret shopped several practice websites recently. The reason is to see how quickly someone gets back to me – and what they say – after I fill out their contact form. (Side Note: Rule of thumb is 5 minutes or less during business hours for the best opportunity to connect. Connection rate drops off a cliff once you get past the 5-minute mark).

And I noticed that multiple times, the practice would send an SMS or Voicemail and NOT use anyone’s name – mine or theirs.

Meaning, they might say something like “Hi! ABC Eye Center here, just following up on the contact form you sent us. Let us know if you would like to come in for a consultation!”

Now, there are multiple things wrong with that message. But the one thing I want to focus on right now is names and why you should use them…

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Names create familiarity. They instill comfort. They are core to solid rapport.

Your favorite word in the world is your own name. If you’re in a noisy crowd and someone across the room says your name, you hear it. We’re tuned to the sound of our names.

The easiest tweak to quickly offer better service? Use your prospect’s name in your communication – email, SMS, voicemail and even on the call.

But not only that…

You want your team to use their own names too. Your practice is made up of humans. And those humans help other humans (often referred to as “patients” or “eyes”) to solve a problem.

The human-to-human connection is essential to creating the trust necessary for someone to open their wallet – and open their eyes – to your care.

“Hey there John! It’s Troy here at ABC Eye Center…”

This may sound basic, and it is. But it’s a common mistake that happens in the majority of practices I encounter.

So go ahead and forward this short email to your engagement team and their managers, and make sure everyone is Using Names – their own and their prospects’.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Enjoy your Thursday!

– Troy “Say My Name” Cole

Stop allowing your prospects to eat ice cream for dinner.

I have a lot of kids. I asked them the other night, “What should we eat for dinner?” One of them said, “Ice Cream!”

Why? Why would she say something that bizarre?

Because she’s a little kid who has no knowledge of nutrition or health. To put it simply, she’s uninformed. So she goes with what she knows – “Ice cream tastes good!”

And this is why her opinion of what we should eat for dinner is so ridiculous.

Your prospects are in the same boat. They are under-informed when it comes to choosing a LASIK (or other elective) surgeon. It’s not something they have learned how to do.

Your prospects aren’t dialed into the most important criteria. They’re ignorant. (That’s not an insult, it’s literally the definition of the word ignorant – lacking knowledge or awareness.)

So what do they do? Same thing my daughter does – they go with what they know.

What do your prospects know? Money. They have some understanding of money. And so that’s the criteria they use to make their decision. “This doc is cheaper than that doc. They both seem pretty good, so I’m going with the cheap one.”

It probably doesn’t surprise you that my young daughter voted Ice Cream for dinner. And it shouldn’t surprise you when your prospects attempt to make these same types of bad decisions.

Left unattended, under-informed prospects will formulate their own bad opinions and make poor choices based on those opinions.

And because you are the subject matter expert, the authority, the person responsible for helping them… YOU CAN’T LET THEM DO THAT.

So if someone calls and says, “How much is LASIK?” and you say “It’s $3900 for both eyes,” You’ve just done a disservice to yourself and to that prospective patient, who is probably never coming in to your practice.

Your team must educate. Ask questions. Push back. Teach prospects how to think about this unfamiliar decision. This is your job. No one else is going to do it for you. The prospect can’t possibly do it themselves. The responsibility falls on you.

Stop allowing your prospects to eat ice cream for dinner. Stop allowing your prospects to formulate their own garbage opinions that lead to bad healthcare decisions. Step up and take responsibility for them.

Yes, this leadership approach will increase your surgery volume. But even more than that, it’s your moral obligation to your patients.

Troy “Cookies n Cream” Cole

Want the big wins? Do the boring work.

My boys and I have been enjoying some of the March Madness basketball games the last couple of weeks. Sunday night, we watched 11th seed UCLA beat 2 seed Alabama to go to the Elite 8.

Alabama had the better team. In fact, they were favored by 6.5 points.

So what cost them the game? Boring old free throws.

UCLA shot 25 free throws and made 20 of them.

Alabama also shot 25 free throws… and only made 11.

Even the incredible buzzer-beater Alabama sank to send the game into overtime couldn’t help them overcome their pathetic performance from the foul line.

There are a few lessons you can take away from this, but I was reminded of one of my favorite maxims:

Do the boring work.

You know what’s cool? 3-point jump shots. No-look passes. Alley-oop dunks.

You know what’s boring as heck? Free throws.

But free throws are why the 11-seed team beat the 2-seed.

How do you make free throws? You do the boring work and practice them over… and over… and over.

Same reason my tee ball team – The Rockies – has won their first 2 games. (Let’s go!)

Because we practice the most boring aspect of baseball – base running – every. Single. Practice.

Running. In a square. Over and over and over. Boring.

Hitting? Awesome. Running? Boring.

Snagging fly balls? Fancy! Running? Snooze fest.

Want the exciting wins? Do the boring work.

What does that mean for you in your practice?

Well, there’s definitely a lesson about practicing here. For example, if your sales team isn’t doing the boring work of role playing their convos with prospects – and 99 out of 100 of them aren’t – you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table every day.

There’s also a lesson about the extraordinary being rooted in consistency. The boring things – done consistently – make all the difference.

Greeting EVERY patient at the front desk. Guiding EVERY prospect on the phone. Doing EVERY followup of your non-converted leads. Asking EVERY happy patient for a review.

None of these activities are particularly novel or exciting. Some might even describe them as boring.

But the surgeons who ensure their teams are doing the boring work consistently… they are the ones spending more time in their surgery suites each month, doing more surgeries and stacking cash.

Don’t be the high-ranking team that loses like Alabama. Take a look at your practice and where you need to be more consistent with the boring work.

And if you want a systematic, paint-by-numbers way to grow your volume that’s rooted in simple, boring work… our Patient Prime System may be for you. Reply for more info.

And remember: if you want exciting wins, do the boring work.

Troy “Do Boring, Don’t Be Boring” Cole

Refractive Surgery’s “Rocky III” Moment

My oldest son is 8. Which is a fun age because we can start doing more “guy” things together.

We can actually play catch with a baseball or football. He’s helpful when we do projects around the house. And we can watch certain “non-kid” movies together.

Last night, I showed him Rocky III. It’s the one where Rocky fights Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T (beastmode!).

Rocky III is a great example of what happens when someone gets fame and fortune… then gets distracted and loses his edge.

(In case you haven’t seen it or just don’t remember the plot – the now world-famous champion boxer Rocky is challenged to a title fight by the hungry and ultra-focused up-and-comer Clubber Lang, who hands Rocky a knock-out in just 2 rounds).

There’s a training montage that shows the juxtaposition between each boxers’ training camp. Rocky doing photo shoots, signing autographs, enjoying the fanfare. Clubber working away in a dark gym, alone, focused, putting 100% effort into his workouts.

Seeing that, it’s no wonder Rocky gets stomped.

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As I was watching this amazing cinematic masterpiece, I couldn’t help but think about how the LASIK industry is ripe for a Rocky III disruption.

Every market has a heavyweight champ. Every market has its challengers.

And in 15 years of doing this, I’ve seen “champs” who get a little like Rocky. They dominate their markets, do strong volume, and start to feel invincible. And they get a little comfortable.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with heavyweight champs enjoying the spoils of their long, hard battle to win the championship belt. Goodness knows they’ve worked hard for it.

The scary part is how easy it is for a challenger to come in a dethrone the champ.

20 years ago, this was a near-impossible task. To overtake the champ back then, it took literally millions of dollars in marketing, and a massive reputation built brick by brick over many years.

The “barriers to entry” aren’t anywhere near as high as they were when I started in this industry. Think about it:

A practice with a strong review-getting strategy can build a massive 5-star online reputation (where it matters most) in a short period of time.

A practice with a dialed-in digital marketing strategy can generate hundreds of quality leads for pennies on the dollar compared to the massive marketing budgets that were required in years past.

A practice with a properly trained sales team can take those leads and convert the vast majority of them into consults.

And when a practice comes into the market with extreme focus on incredible patient experiences, word of mouth can travel faster and farther than ever thanks to social media.

I’m not talking theory here. In recent years, I’ve implemented these strategies for practices that were brand new to a market. And within 24 months, they became the highest volume – and highest priced – refractive practice in their region.

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And now, post-COVID, the opportunity for disruption is bigger than ever. Because the general population has been groomed to enjoy a home-centric and phone-centric lifestyle.

The practices that recognize this and pivot to a hybrid model of patient engagement (traditional in-office consults combined with virtual consults) are seeing huge gains in their refractive surgery numbers. I’m talking 30-50% growth in surgery eyes (and correlating revenue).

Could a younger practice challenge the “heavyweight champion” in their market and take their market share? With the right strategies – and a Clubber Lang-level of focus – it’s certainly possible.

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All it takes is extreme focus and the right strategy. We can’t “make” you focus (though I can tell you what to focus on). But we can give you the new strategy – along with the proven assets, processes and even generate the new patient opportunities for you.

Rocky needed a new strategy too.

When it was time for Rocky’s rematch with Clubber, he paired up with former heavyweight champ Apollo Creed. Apollo coached him on a new boxing strategy. Rocky used his new strategy to come back and regain his heavyweight title from Clubber.

I don’t know where you consider yourself in your market – if you’re the reigning champ, a former champ or a challenger.

If you’re the reigning champ – watch your back. What got you here won’t get you there (at least not without some pivots and modifications). It’s time to go hybrid. Now.

If you’re a former champ who has lost the title to someone else in your market… don’t worry. You can get back on top with a fresh strategy, just like Rocky did.

And if you’re the challenger – congratulations. There’s never been a better time to be a refractive surgeon. Consumer interest is high, and you have a massive opportunity to disrupt your local market and dominate like never before.

But you have to get focused, get the right strategy, and take action.

Hear that? They just rang the bell. The fight is on… 👊

Troy “DesTROYer” Cole

“Will virtual consults cannibalize my in-office consults?”

Question from a reader last week:

“It’s now clear to me that virtual consults have a role in growing our refractive volume. My thing is, we don’t want virtual consults to cannibalize the pool of people coming into the office for in-office consults. How do we keep that from happening?”

As you should know by now, we’re bullish on Virtual Consults. Practices that are pivoting to the Hybrid Model of Patient Engagement (Virtual Consults + in-office consults) are seeing massive growth in their refractive volume.

This question about “cannibalization” holds a lot of practices back from fully embracing (and promoting) virtual consults. And we understand why.

You know if you can get a prospect into the office to experience your awesomeness, they are much more likely to schedule surgery, right? So you don’t want to do something that would reduce the number of prospective patients who are coming in. Makes perfect sense.

But here’s what we’ve discovered…

Through our Prime Positioning Framework, we market the virtual consults in a way that attracts a different segment of the marketplace than you’re reaching right now.

By taking this strategic approach, the virtual consults are additional to the in-office consults you’re already booking. And I’ll explain why that’s the case…

Remember you’re catering to a large pool of potential patients in your market. Let’s look at them in 2 groups – the Traditional Bookers and Non-Traditional Non-Bookers.

Right now, your in-office consults are geared toward the Traditional Bookers. This is the segment of the population that wants to come in and see you for a consult. Just like patients always have. They like the old-school, in-person touch point.

The people in the other segment are not coming in for a consult. These are your Non-Traditional Non-Bookers. This group is comprised of people who need what you have to offer, but they don’t want to take the time off and travel to your practice to do an in-person consult. In short, it’s not convenient enough for them to take action.

Virtual consults, when done the right way that we will teach you, add a new avenue of convenience for prospects to connect with your practice. And as we see with Amazon Prime, InstaCart, Netflix and Peloton – convenience-focused services are what people crave.

So for your Non-Traditional Non-Bookers, this new level of convenience is exactly what they’re looking for.

To summarize – the people booking virtual consultations are not the same market segment who were booking in-office consults before. Those folks are still booking with you.

The people booking virtual consults were never coming to see you in the first place… and now they are. Because you’ve catered to their desire for convenience.

(At least that’s what we’ve seen across a dozen or so practices that have implemented our system.)

So if you were holding back on fully embracing virtual consults because you didn’t want to lose in-person consults, I hope I’ve put your fears at ease.

And if you want the full system and game plan for how to position, market and convert virtual consults to refractive surgeries – while still keeping a full schedule of in-person consults – reach out to me immediately.

Troy “No Cannibals” Cole