One particular Coronavirus response caught my eye, and I wanted to share it with you because it parallels a lot of what you do in your practice.
No doubt you’ve seen many COVID-19 messages from different businesses pop up in your inbox and social media feeds.
Most of them are fairly similar – here’s what we’re doing, here’s what you can do, let’s get through this.
And that’s fine. I even recommended you do something similar in the email I sent Friday.
It’s one thing to address Coronavirus and what you’re doing to keep patients safe.
It’s another to talk about ways to keep business moving, keep consultations flowing, and keep patients going on the surgery schedule.
“But Troy, how can you think about making money at a time like this?”
Easy, it’s my business to think about these things. I help clients get paid handsomely to help people solve critical problems in their lives. It’s literally what we do at LogiCole Consulting.
So we can freak out and freeze, stick our heads in the sand and hope by chance that everything turns out OK.
OR we can stay focused on our work, get creative, and figure out ways to help our clients continue to grow and thrive. In the midst of this turmoil and beyond.
This too shall pass, my friends. And I’m going to make sure my clients are set up for success when it does.
Alright, we’re off track. Back to the Coronavirus response that really caught my eye.
A buddy of mine does custom suits and runs Q Clothier in Fort Worth. Here’s the post they shared yesterday on social media:
In case that image doesn’t display for some reason, here’s what it says:
To Q Clothier | Rye 51 Friends,
As the US confronts a new reality, and our communities take steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Q Clothier | Rye 51 has decided to take part as well. All of our stores, except Atlanta, will remain open and continue to serve clients in a PRIVATE APPOINTMENT SETTING. Additionally, all of our Clothiers will be holding VIRTUAL APPOINTMENTS for clients who prefer to remain at home.
On behalf of the entire Q Clothier | Rye 51 team, we will continue to monitor the current situation as it unfolds, and we remain committed to keeping the highest standards of safety and sanitation.
I love this for a number of reasons:
1. They acknowledge that they will take part in helping slow the spread of COVID-19. How will they do this? Close up shop? Stop seeing clients? No! The exact opposite actually.
2. They showcase their “Private Appointment Setting.” This is a unique feature of their business that is particularly desirable right now, when we’re trying to limit exposure among even small groups of people.
3. They also highlight the option to do virtual appointments should people desire to go that route, another attractive option given the current state of the country.
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When I saw this, I initially thought, Good for these guys trying to continue taking care of their clients.
And then I realized you can make a very similar proposition to your prospects.
Here’s what I mean:
Your consultation setting is pretty much 1-on-1, right? The patient is either with a counselor, a tech, or a doctor. But it’s essentially a “Private Consultation Setting.”
Why not take the time to highlight this?
“But Troy, everyone assumes a doctor’s appointment is going to be private.”
Agree, but people aren’t consciously thinking this. It’s a given. Draw people’s attention to it as an actual feature with a big benefit.
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Re: the virtual appointments part – This is the direction everything is already going.
Online evals. Virtual reality. Telemedicine. People will start adopting – and then asking for and demanding – these technologies in the not-so-distant future.
Now is a fine time to jump on board and test this approach. It sets you apart from your competition in a big way. And it could give you an entire new funnel of new business even beyond COVID-19.
Your first thought may be about how complicated this would be to pull off.
But you don’t need to be super high-tech to do this.
You don’t need a bunch of special equipment, or an automated-integrated-online scheduler. (Great if you do, you just don’t need it for testing purposes).
Figure out some date and time windows you can facilitate virtual consults. Let prospects pick a date and time from those pre-determined options in a dropdown box on your web form. Then connect with them at that time via FaceTime app.
(This is the part where I remind you I’m not a HIPAA lawyer. I’ve read and also been told by people smarter than me that FaceTime can be used in this manner. If you think this is wrong, or if you disagree for some other reason, there are certainly other telemedicine communications tools you can use)
Get on FaceTime, go through some medical history questions, ask about their Rx, do some lifestyle questions. Enough to prequalify them for an in-person eval. Doesn’t have to be long, maybe 15 minutes?
If the video call / FaceTime thing is too complicated, just do a phone virtual consult. A 15-minute express consult, via phone.
That probably sounds similar to what you would do with a prospect on the phone anyway.
It is. But the positioning is the novel part. It’s the new, timely opportunity that people need right now.
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There are obviously a number of ways you can do a virtual consult. Here’s the bigger point:
Even in all the turmoil surrounding this virus (or any other disaster-ish issue that arises), you need to keep starting conversations and keep current conversations going.
Most of these conversations won’t manifest in a new surgery on your schedule today. But they are building you a runway, which you very much need right now.