Converting Calls Into Clients

Are you getting lots of interest calls but having trouble converting them?

Without hearing your phone calls, I can’t accurately diagnose the problem, but here are the therapist mistakes I see most often that prevent conversions.

Clinicians don’t assume the client is calling to make an appt. They treat it like an information collecting call. They say things like “look at your schedule and call me back if you want to work together.” Think about it like this-- what if you called a dermatologist for a suspicious mole and they answered some questions and asked you some and then said “well give us a call back if you want us to look at it.” Our clients need things to be easy, not an unnecessary step in the process.

Clinicians make the phone call about selling themselves. If I call you up because I’m struggling and you ramble on about your training and certifications, I assume you’re going to take up all the space in session, too. And that you’re full of yourself.

Clinicians not asking about the client. Charging forward with available times and dates without seeming to care about what the client is struggling with makes clients feel like a cog in a wheel.

Being distracted when they’re on the phone with potential clients. Don’t call people back in the car or at a noisy restaurant or with your kids screaming in the background. Treat calling people back like the legitimate business interaction that it is.

Calling people back too late. If someone has a list of referrals and they call them one after another, they may have already scheduled with someone by the time you return their message. That’s not about you. That being said-- PLEASE call people back. Even if it’s a week late. Even if they mentioned that they need to use an insurance you don’t accept in the message. Call them back and apologize for any delay if there was one. See if they still need care.

Clinicians winging the conversation. There’s a certain amount of flexibility in these phone calls that’s necessary but if you aren’t following a framework, you’re likely to forget to ask or communicate important things.

If you want help getting more phone calls or want to dive into some other scripts for your business, check out how to work with us at abundancepracticebuilding.com/work-with-us