If you saw my message yesterday, you already know I didn’t die when I tried high-intensity cardio in a sauna. (And if you didn’t, catch up here).
And no, I’m not describing some hair-brained, home-cooked workout scheme. It’s actually one of the fastest-growing franchises in the fitness space – A place called HOTWORX.
I visited the newly opened HOTWORX with my wife and apparent masochist, Susan, who for some reason enjoys this torturous exercise program.
The sense I got about HOTWORX is that of the old Secret brand deodorant – strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
And I told them as much in my reply to the check-in text they sent after my visit.
So what did they say in response? And what can we learn from it? And why does it speak to the power and utility of SMS?
Here’s their reply, which is great:
Now let’s talk about it…
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Timing isn’t ideal, but it’s not bad. I sent my message reply on Friday, after I received the initial message from Kaylee. Paul messaged me back the following Tuesday.
Now, do I recommend waiting 4 days to SMS someone back? No.
Is it the end of the world? No. Especially in this case, where maybe the owner doesn’t normally reply to these kind of messages, but this one got escalated to him.
As I read the message, I wasn’t thinking, “How dare they not message me for days.” I actually thought “Cool, the owner took the time to message me and reply personally.”
We recommend doing the initial reach-out to leads within 2 minutes of them coming through, 18 hours a day, 7 days a week (don’t SMS people at 1 a.m.). And we even have a service where we use SMS to do that on your behalf to make it easier.
But after the initial outreach, maybe you had a lead reply later in the day yesterday and you haven’t got back to them yet. Or maybe you had a convo that just didn’t go anywhere, and it’s been a few days.
There’s a good chance those people still have the same problem they did when they reached out in the first place. So pick up the baton and run with it like Paul did. And when you do this via SMS, it’s easy and feels natural.
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He didn’t take my response as a “no.”
In my previous message I asked if you thought I was a NO on HOTWORX, or if I was actually likely to sign up. Responses were all over the board.
I told them in my reply, “I thought it was awesome, but I think it’s more designed for women?”
Paul could have focused in on my objection – “I think it’s more designed for women” – and convinced himself I wouldn’t come back.
But he chose to focus on my positive feedback – “I thought it was awesome” – and he knew I just need a little re-education to likely move forward.
You see this every day in your practice.
👉 “I really want to have the procedure, but…”
👉 “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, I just…”
👉 “Yeah it would change my life, but…”
Whatever comes after “but” is usually an assumption that requires extra education, creativity or both to address.
Replying by SMS allowed him the time to thoughtfully assemble a message that addressed my concerns. Hey, sometimes you need a minute. Especially if you have newer sales folks who are still honing their skills, SMS gives them the time cushion to think through and respond appropriately.
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I like that it came from the owner.
Feels good when the owner, the CEO, the surgeon reaches out personally to discuss, doesn’t it?
But here’s a question: Did the owner actually send it? I’m assuming so. It’s a small, new business. Not like they have a big marketing department.
But not necessarily. The message could have been anyone.
For example when we send SMS messages on behalf of our clients, we send them from Emily, your ever-helpful and handy Patient Education Advocate.
Is Emily real? Does it matter? It does not.
One of the beauties of SMS is that as a platform, SMS makes it easy to create these “multi-player engagements.”
When the car salesman says, “Let me go talk to my manager,” is he actually going to talk to someone? Maybe sometimes. But whether he is or not, he’s creating a scenario that involves multiple people, which gives him more play and leverage to get the deal done.
Similar to what we’re doing with SMS (without any car salesman vibes).
OK so how do you use multi-player engagements to increase conversions in your practice?
I’m not getting into all our secrets in this essay. But a couple quick and easy ways:
- Do what Paul did. Someone replies with an objection, have the “manager” or even one of the docs jump in and reply.
- If someone comes in for a consult and doesn’t book, have someone in your Patient Advocacy department message them – “Saw Dr. X said you are a perfect candidate for Y, but you didn’t schedule. Wanted to reach out to see what other questions you have?” Or even “To make sure explained everything clearly. How was your time with him?”
You’ll get responses. Then you know you’re still in the game.
“But we don’t have an official Patient Advocacy Department, Troy. We don’t have an Emily. Who’s gonna do all this?” Literally none of that matters.
One person can send all of these messages, and you can even automate some of them. Since it’s all based on actual comments from your team and doctors, the messaging itself is true. And that’s what matters most.
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Paul Educated Me. Paul took the time to explain to me WHICH exercises were his faves, which I might like, and the results he’s seeing. He did this to educate me out of my false belief.
He related to me as a guy, which is great.
I would have liked to see him empathize a little more (“I see how you might think that, Troy. Let me give you a little more insight….”) but all in all, I like the education part of the response.
You are often faced with the need to educate people out of their wrong beliefs. You might do this by discussing your experience having surgery yourself, sharing a story from another patient, talking about how Dr. X would answer that common question, or redirecting to an aspect of the decision that’s more important than what they’re fixated on.
SMS is but one channel you can use for this.
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Paul had a call to action. OK so he replied, he explained, so what? What next?
He gave me a call-to-action to come back in to try more classes.
Always ask. Always be planning the next step with your prospects.
For you, the ask and next step might be a consult, might be calling back later today, might be sending them more info via SMS about your procedures then following up after, might be checking in when they move to town in 60 days.
Always make the ask and have a plan.
And it’s great to start an SMS convo (ex. “I’ll text you more info…”). Because then you have that open line of communication where you can follow-up easily and conversationally.
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So good job, Paul. Not sure if I’m going to join yet, but I told him I’d come check it out again.
And I hope this illustrates just a few reasons I’m super bullish on SMS and messaging in general going into 2023.
Yes we still want to get folks on the phone when we can. But SMS presents a powerful tool for creating conversations and compelling patient experiences.
Convos are opportunities to book consults. You want more consults? Conversations are the key. And when used correctly, SMS facilitates such conversations.
Enjoy your weekend!
– Troy
PS – Not sure if your SMS game is firing on all cylinders? Reply to this email. Let’s talk about what you’re doing and what you’re missing, and what you need to do to close the gap. Or better yet… text me. 😎