Episode 22: Sales Tactics in Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine Practitioners: What You Will Learn:
- Why Dr. Lerner has built his sales cycle around unique advancing programs and events
- Different programs and events functional medicine practitioners can produce to connect with patients
- How Dr. Lerner views sales in relation to the brick and mortar practice
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
- What drove Dr. Lerner to pursue additional training in psychology
- Psychological concepts that can be leveraged to move a prospective patient forward in the sales cycle
- How to build out an event and fill the seats
- How to ask questions that seem genuine and authentic, not salesy
- How to deal with internal struggles in your business and separate them from your interactions with patients
- Structures and systems you can implement to create consistency across all of your clinics
Reach Your Patients When They’re Ready to Spend
Several months ago, I produced a major functional medicine event called The Functional Medicine Sales Training Virtual Summit. I interviewed over fifty experts in our field, each bringing forth loads of valuable information to help us get more patients saying ‘yes.’ The goal is to use sales and human communication tactics to have a greater impact as functional medicine practitioners, and ultimately, to get paid what you are worth. Dr. Ben Lerner was one of the experts who joined us for the summit, and I wanted to share his interview with those of you who may have missed it or need a refresher on his proven sales process for functional medicine practitioners.
Advancing Programs and Events
Dr. Ben Lerner is one of the top functional medicine practitioners in the industry. He is also a coach, mentor, and a very successful entrepreneur. Dr. Lerner has an extremely unique approach to marketing in functional medicine, and his sales and admissions processes have generated significant growth in each of the 135 practices and counting that he’s built. He structures his sales cycle around unique advancing programs for patients and is able to reach hundreds of thousands of people at one time. All of the events are desirable for the patient. They are relevant, timely, and engaging, which enables Dr. Lerner to reach his prospects at a critical time when they are ready to buy. It is the ultimate opportunity to leverage your time and maximize your exposure in the community simultaneously.
The Psychology of Sales
As functional medicine practitioners, we are skilled in our disciplines and niches. But high levels of specialization can narrow our field of view when it comes to other tasks like biz dev. Dr. Lerner supplements his medical training with a Master’s of Psychology, and concepts like heuristics and proximity bias have significantly impacted the way he markets and operates his practices. Most of us understand psychological concepts, and we see the value in knowing what’s happening in the mind of our prospective patients. But, at the same time, we struggle with the application of them. Prospective patients are often going by rules of thumb instead of critically thinking. Asking questions can help them overcome this frame of mind so you can nudge them forward in the sales cycle.
Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash
About Dr. Ben Lerner
Dr. Ben Lerner owned and operated 5 clinics in Central Florida seeing 12,000 patient visits each month. He is now the co-founder of Maximized Living Inc. and Maximized Living Health Centers which has opened more than 80 franchised clinics.
Dr. Ben is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, doctor for two U.S. wrestling teams at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and currently the Chairman of the Wellness Advisory Council. The Wellness Advisory Council provides care and performance programs for USA Wrestling, USA Judo, USA Weightlifting, and USA Sitting-Volleyball. They also cover performance for the 2010 MLS Cup Champions the Colorado Rapids, U.S. Martial Arts, many professional MMA teams, and sports programs up through the college level.
Maximized Living has clients, franchises, and partners in 4 countries and is a world leader in health curriculum, wellness events, and fitness challenges.
How to Connect with Dr. Ben Lerner:
- Website: https://drbenlerner.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenLerner/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drblerner/
- Twitter: @DrBenLerner
