Now before you get your panties in a knot…No I don’t think patients are dollar signs.  

They are in fact the most important part of this process and hopefully the reason we all do what we do.

Let’s carry on now— like adults.

If you’ve spent any time around salespeople and sales trainers, you might have heard something similar to this:

“You are wasting your time selling to someone who doesn’t want to buy.”

This is actually spot-on-accurate and sound advice.

However, any so-called sales trainer can pull that line out of just about any sales book.

Not Selling To Someone Who Doesn’t Want To Buy Cuts 2 Ways.

 

Cut 1

The reality is, this has become the mantra of lazy salespeople. It’s often the motto of Functional Medicine providers that are not maximizing their impact on humanity—the kind that seemingly couldn’t sell a hot meal to a starving man.

Now don’t get me wrong, I was once that guy.  Lazy, unsuccessful, and severely lacking in my ability to communicate, influence, and sell lifesaving services to good people.

My failure sounded like this…

“They want their insurance to pay for everything… their health is not a priority… they just don’t get it… and just about every other inane excuse for my failure I could possibly think of…”

In short, some use the mantra as a cop-out.

Cut 2

If applied correctly, the motto of not trying to sell to someone who doesn’t want to buy, can lead you to a friction removing and patient-inspiring sales process.  

A system that leads to virtually never being told NO again.

In reality, people buy things they don’t want ALL THE TIME!

Here is a truth in the Functional Medicine business…

All patients start with a Default NO.  

It’s our job to take them through a sales process that starts chipping away at that Default NO long before they even opt in. 

Understand this…

No one wants to go to the doctor.  No one wants to come into your Functional Medicine clinic. – but EVERYONE NEEDS you or else they’re going to DIE.. 

Knowing this gives you a head start.

Your mission is to build so much value, to create so much magnetism, to stand out from the crowd so clearly— that they can’t help but say YES to themselves.

Yes— in reality, you are wasting your time selling to people who don’t want to be sold. 

Here is another truth in Functional Medicine…

You can tweak your marketing parameters all you want to get in front of the perfect patient. However, that activity will never fix what’s really wrong with your inability to get someone to say Yes.

Ideal patients are not born— they are MADE!

Once you let that sink in, you can begin to cultivate a  mindset to not only put yourself in front of patients you can help, but also patients who are willing to pay a minimum of $10,000 to get their disease process reversed. 

Getting in front of a patient who is willing to pay a minimum of $10,000, takes perseverance and a can-do attitude. 

It takes an understanding that your job is not really delivering the clinical goods – it’s about creating a process that allows the patient to get out of their own way and say YES to themselves.

It’s a reframing of our responsibility as we work in a self-pay model.

3 Critical Keys to Building The Ideal Functional Medicine Patient

Key #1: Pick a Niche

We know that you have mad clinical skills and that you can attack any health issue a patient presents with the greatest of ease and success. For many practitioners, FM or otherwise, the idea of “selling” is a scary proposition. This might be because people conjure up the image of the door-to-door salesperson or those annoying telemarketing calls that always come during dinner. This notion of sales is so 1985.

In today’s world, people have an endless amount of information at their fingertips, some of it misleading or false. Your mission is to present yourself as an expert who can inspire potential patients to see a new future for themselves.  Showing them that there is in fact HOPE.

Picking a niche is key to being an expert and setting yourself apart from others.

A common mistake practitioners make is trying to be everything to everyone. This problematically positions you as the ‘jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.’

Place your focus on at least one niche, but no more than three. 

This gives you the ability to present yourself as the natural solution to the health problems that others have been unable to fix.

Working within a niche allows you to refine your messaging and your clinical tools.

It’s a non-negotiable if you want to win in business and in the impact you provide before you leave this earth.

Key #2: Develop a Patient Avatar

Once you have an idea of the niche(s) you are going to focus on, spend some time developing a patient avatar. This exercise allows you to hone in on defining your ideal patient. You cannot attract a patient who will spend $10,000 if you don’t know who they are.

One way to approach developing a patient avatar is to include your key staff. Have them identify your five most favorite patients. Then you list the reasons why each patient has a favored-status at your practice.

Getting in front of patients who want what you offer and will pay you top dollar is easy when you take the necessary steps to ensure your success.

Key #3: Learn to Speak the Language

Speaking the language (the exact language) of your customer is the cornerstone of successful sales in any industry. When you speak your patient’s language, it means you have tapped into their behavior, and SALES IS ALL ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY.

As you learn more about your patients and what drives them, use specific language to engage their hot buttons in your marketing. This includes written and video content on your website as well as face-to-face consultations. Share this information with your team, who can also help match the right patients to your practice.

When you put the three critical keys to getting in front of a $10,000 patient together, you will slowly begin to notice changes. Once you’ve chosen your niche, created a patient avatar, and adopted the language of your patients, you can improve your bottom line. These three keys can lift your practice to greater heights and stuff your bank account with money you never imagined you could make.

One of the easiest and most powerful ways to create exclusivity with new patients is by implementing a qualification process on the first phone call.

In other words, 3-4 scripted questions that allow your staff to determine whether or not the prospective patient is qualified to meet with you.

And you say…

“You mean I’m going to have my staff tell a potential patient they’re not qualified to even come into the office?”

YES!!!

And it’s a critical and powerful step to being able to significantly increase your prices, and ultimately help more patients.

Click below to get a copy of our Virtual Phone Script which will help you qualify more patients and increase your conversion rates.