Sometime ago I was going to meet up with some Vets so I thought I’d make a phone call to each of their clinics to find out how well an enquiry was handled. Much to my amazement, it appeared their team members had been instructed to turn away new clients and to limit the profits of the practice!
My enquiry was simple. I was just ringing to find out how much it would cost to vaccinate my dog and get heartworm treatment, so that’s what I asked.
In every case, after I was asked the weight of the dog (oh, and sometimes the dog’s name!), I was given what it would cost. Not one person asked me my name, my contact details or whether I would like to make an appointment for me and my dog. It seemed as if they just wanted to get me off the phone.
Lost profit: On the range of prices I was given, the profit in the procedure would have ranged from $80 to $150, and if only one of these opportunities was missed each week, each clinic is turning away somewhere between $4,000 and $7,500 each year and heaps more dollars if you take the lifetime value of a client into account.
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To overcome this problem, you need to ensure that all team members are effectively scripted so they turn prospects and “price shoppers” into sales.
Rather than just giving out a price, which is typically what most people ask for, team members should always ask questions. Of course, team members will often tell you that people don’t want to answer questions; they just want a response to their question of “How much?”
No need to give price: Well, that’s still no reason to immediately respond with the price. So, even when pressed early in the conversation for the answer, they just respond with “I need the answer to a couple of questions so I can give you an indication of what’s involved”.
Then they must ask three critical questions… and those three questions should be scripted so that every team member can ask them exactly right.
Once they get the answer to those questions the price will have receded in importance in the mind of the enquirer and they’ll be in control of the conversation.
If necessary, after asking a few questions and building rapport, team members can then give a price range on an indicative basis only, along the lines of “Well, depending on what Dr Kaye finds when she sees your dog, the investment could range from $x to $y. Of course, that investment includes our 14 point dog health check which means…” Getting them to make an appointment and keep it will be a cinch.
Making it happen: The way to get these things happening within your practice is to make sure you have both the scripts, which tell them what to say, and effective team meetings where team members learn how to handle price enquiries and take part in a serious role playing exercise to perfect their skills.
I’ll share the secrets of great scripts, team meetings that work and those 3 critical questions in upcoming articles.
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