Master Your Discovery Call
In today’s world, your ideal patients are being bombarded with sales pitches and opportunities from health-care professionals all day long. It can feel hard to stand out and make a name for yourself when so many others are doing the same.
One area of your practice that is often overlooked as a tool to bring in more patients is your discovery call. I know what you’re thinking, a discovery call happens AFTER someone has found you and inquired, and you’re right. However, you don’t want to lose any of those potential patients during your calls. Learn to master your discovery calls to never miss your chance at gaining your ideal patients ever again.
The purpose of the discovery call is to gain an understanding of your prospect’s priorities, goals, and pain points to determine the right fit, open a line of communication and move them to a sale. You don’t need to focus too much on your actual services, but more on what transformation you’re going to provide for them.
This is truly your time to shine as an expert in your field. This is where you can show your potential patients your uniqueness, and how they can get to know you, like you, and trust you. It’s your chance to connect to each patient, show your emotional understanding of their personal health concerns, and ultimately how you can change their life.
Do Your Homework
The first thing you need to do to prepare for your call is to do your homework on your potential patient. You want to learn as much as you possibly can about them beforehand, so that you can better relate to them and their needs.
This will also help you ask more meaningful questions to further connect and showcase your ability to help. Being prepared for who they are and their experiences also creates a more streamlined flow of the call, which makes it a more positive experience for your patient. They will remember you and feel important if you show them you took the time to better understand them.
A good way to gain more information on your prospective patient is to have a mandatory questionnaire on your booking platform prior to the call. This questionnaire can include several areas for them to provide more information. Then you can get the exact information you need to assess your patients, such as their greatest pain points, previous conditions, previous care, what they’re hoping to achieve, current lifestyle habits, and more.
Questions to Include During Your Call
Doing your homework is essential. Once you’re on the call, you need to be prepared with specific questions to make sure you truly get to know them, establish if they will be a good fit for your practice, and if they are serious about getting the help and care they need.
What is Your Biggest Health Concern?
Most of these questions may have been answered during your homework phase, but this is your opportunity to hear them expand their answers. Then, you can address it directly and show your understanding.
For example, your specialty is weight loss for women and helping with hormonal imbalances, and your prospective patient is expressing their frustration with programs never working and not finding the right solution for them. You can address how you were able to determine the root cause of other patients in similar situations by looking at their hormonal issues that led to sustainable weight loss at a healthy rate without restriction or fad diets.
What are Your Main Roadblocks to Overcoming Your Issues?
This is where you can ensure your programs and methods are catered to work in their favor and not be too overwhelming or complicated, and that they are actually achievable to be able to help them change their health and life. For example, you can explain to the patient who was never able to lose weight on previous programs, the details of how your program has a proven success rate and why.
These may include weekly accountability appointments, grocery lists, meal plans, supplement recommendations, and much more. Go into detail about how the process of your care will give them a seamless experience that provides actual results.
What Does a Successful Outcome of Working With Me Look Like for You?
No matter their answer, this is where you are able to connect on an emotional level. You need to show them that you understand their condition and how their current daily life is a struggle because of their health concerns. Show how you’re determined to get them back to feeling their absolute best.
What Concerns Do You Have That I Can Help Address Today?
You want to know if there are any concerns about you or your methods of care that are giving them any hesitation, so that you can address them to ensure they are comfortable with how you will provide solutions to their problems. It’s great to get this out of the way in a discovery call and quickly solve these problems, if any.
What is Your Budget and How Much are You Looking to Invest?
Although this is not the easiest conversation to have, and you might think it’s not necessary to discuss early on, you need to know what your patient is willing to invest so that you can properly establish where in this patient will fit into your practice. Maybe your one-on-one model is out of their budget, but your DIY program is a perfect match. You need to know this, so you can give them the best-detailed information on the solutions that fit within their budget.
Can We Schedule Our Kick-off Appointment?
The first few minutes of your call can set the tone for the rest of your conversation. The first thing you want to do is ensure you are directing the call. Quickly go over the agenda for the meeting. This also shows you are respecting their time.
You want to introduce yourself, your practice, and how you got into the health-care industry (specifically your niche). This is a great way to break the ice with them, use some humor to connect, and get them to know you better. You should then share your goals for the call to manage expectations. You can say something like, “This discovery call is for us to get to know each other; for me to understand your biggest concerns and goals on your health journey; and then we can establish if we are a good fit for one another and what the next steps would be if you’re interested in moving forward.”
Ensure a Two-Way Conversation
You want to make sure there is a two-way conversation happening throughout the call. Remember to let your patient do the talking so that you can show them that you can listen well to their concerns and also establish where they are in their journey. Then you can decide if they're a good fit for your practice. It helps you determine the right methods of care and also showcases your ability to understand and address their issues.
Remember, your relationship with your patients begins on this call and active listening will help build a strong relationship with them. It also enhances trust and likability. There is nothing worse than feeling like you’re not being heard, especially from a person you are hoping to trust with your health!
Things to keep in mind to ensure a two-way conversation:
- Validate their pain points so they feel heard and understood
- Avoid asking yes and no questions
- Don’t be robotic in your speaking and in how you ask them questions, but be conversational and friendly
Have a Positive Sign-Off
Last, but not least, create a positive sign-off method for all your discovery calls. This way, even if you both discover you’re not a good fit or the timing isn’t right for them, they still have a positive interaction and memory of you and your conversation. This will generate positive feedback for you and your practice and potentially bring in more ideal patients.
Always leave things on a good note, and thank them for their time, honesty, and vulnerability. You should summarize their greatest pain points to further demonstrate your understanding of their struggles on an emotional level, and remind them of how your practice is there for them.
You can also share some social proof and statistics of how your methods of care have helped many others with similar issues, and remind them to stay in touch or reach out if they remember any additional questions after the call. As stated earlier, don’t forget that if your potential patient shows interest, schedule a follow-up call or appointment immediately at the end of the conversation.
