Nurturing through phone calls

This month Bhavin Bhatt discusses the skill of phone call nurturing and the benefits of mastering it for aligner treatment.

This month Bhavin Bhatt discusses the skill of nurturing through phone calls and the benefits of mastering it for aligner treatment.

Business phone calls take approximately five minutes. Interestingly, this short period is enough for many dentists, dental clinic admins or treatment coordinators to convince their prospects to book their first consultation.

Hence, we would strongly advise any aligner practitioners to learn the skill of phone call nurturing.

Mastering the basic concept

The most common problem with how dental admin staff handle phone call nurturing is their lack of ability to translate people’s interests into conversation.

The phone call talk becomes dull and not convincing enough to book a consultation appointment.

Try allocating time and investing in your admin team to show them how to nurture your leads during a short phone conversation.

1. Build a rapport

Start your phone call by being friendly and showing interest in the prospect’s life.

Get them to tell you what kind of person they are and what happened in their life that makes them want to get cosmetic treatment.

This talk should not take much time, but it is enough to get them comfortable and trusting.

‘If you smile while you speak, the person on the other line can tell!’

2. Be a problem solver

The next step is to start guiding them to their consultation.

Instead of forcing information about the benefits of any aligner treatment, try positioning yourself as a problem solver.

As you have understood their motivation beforehand, you can explain how you would help facilitate it.

‘Offer solutions to their problems, like appointment availability, finance options, pain relief’

3. End it with a question

Always end your phone conversation with an open ended question. For example, ‘When can you come in for your consultation?’.

Your ultimate goal is to get them to book an appointment which takes you one step closer to the end goal.

Be direct and specific with your question so your prospect can also give an exact date and time for their appointment.

Do not offer too many options – this will confuse them.

Not all people will agree to set a date immediately. Some might not be confident enough to book it, while some might still be looking for more information. It is not a problem, as long as you stick to the systems and protocols.

Your script has to be practiced. The goal of the conversation is to create value for a consultation appointment. For a more effective result, you must script it, practice it, and polish it again from time to time when necessary.

‘Script it, practice it, polish it’

If they don’t answer the phone…

Many people don’t pick up the phone, and there are many possible reasons for this.

Some people are busy, especially during working hours. Some are uncomfortable taking phone calls, especially from a number not in their phonebook. The list goes on.

Whatever it is, you should never let it hang in uncertainty. Always follow up on your unanswered phone calls with a text message or an email.

Introduce yourself and your business. Let them know the specific reason why you called.

Try finding out the exact reason why they didn’t pick up your call, and see if they have a specific time when they would take your phone call.

For example, if your prospect is an employee somewhere where it is not allowed to take phone calls during work, you can offer to call after their shift ends.

If the person you call is uncomfortable with a phone call, ask them what method of communication they prefer. Getting along with whoever gives their best comfort is the most effective way to nurture your prospect.

If they don’t show up for their appointment…

Some people might not end up showing up for their appointment without any confirmation, even though they seemed to be certain about their previous phone conversation.

What went wrong here? Your effort to build rapport might be excellent, which is why your prospect agreed to book an appointment in the first place.

However, not everybody is ready to make a commitment right away. Chances are, these people were already hesitating when booking their consultation. Hence, they would back off immediately as soon as they saw an objection.

While you need to be straightforward with your conversation, it is also crucial to make them comfortable and certain when you ask them to set an appointment date. Their genuine willingness is the key to preventing another failed consultation.

Failing to take deposit

A deposit for a dental consultation appointment is necessary to prove the seriousness of your prospects.

While the deposit is a small amount, it is vital to secure a commitment from each prospect. Otherwise, they may think to cancel later or, even worse, bail at the last minute without any confirmation.

Not only is this a waste of your time, it may also harm your business if this keeps on happening. It is common now in a post-Covid-19 world to expect to pay a deposit to secure an appointment and show your commitment to attend as we do in restaurants, hairdressers, beauty appointments etc.

Unfortunately, many practices fail to take deposits from a phone call. The most common reasons for this occurrence are as below:

You didn’t build enough value, scarcity, and urgency to book a consultation during the phone conversation
Prospects are not comfortable providing their credit card credentials via phone calls, mainly due to security reasons
You are too shy to outright ask your prospects to pay a deposit
You failed to articulate the value of the consultation, so your prospect is still hesitating to even make the commitment to show up.

At this point, it is clear how important it is for you and your admin team to have excellent verbal skills.

The phone call conversation should somehow make your prospects feel FOMO (fear of missing out). Explain nicely how you can’t help them before they settle their deposit.

Try finding out what their objections are, and offer a solution. If they are hesitating about paying via credit card on calls, give them the option to pay via Paypal or something else.

Keep trying to address their objections, so they no longer have a reason to not pay their deposit.

‘No deposit, no appointment’

It is crucial to understand the demographic and psychology of your prospects, so you can approach and nurture them most effectively.