Money Talks: A Crash Course for Patient Care Coordinators

Andrea (00:04):
Well, hi there. I am Andrea Watkins, and if you're listening to this while juggling three patient calls, checking in a couple patients, taking a payment, selling skincare, and trying to catch your doctor in between procedures, you might be working in an aesthetic practice.

Blake (00:18):
And I'm Blake Lucas and this is PracticeLand. This is not your doctor's podcast.

Andrea (00:26):
So today's episode is going to be a little bit different. If someone just handed you this to listen to before you shadow your first consultation, welcome. You're in the right place. Your manager is not trying to throw you in the deep end. She's trying to save you about six months of figuring this out the hard way because the hardest thing about being a new patient care coordinator, it isn't really about learning the procedures or the practice. One of the hardest things is learning to talk about money. So when I first joined the practice, it was hard to talk to people about things that were very expensive because I didn't come from a place of having money as a child. I grew up and wanted plastic surgery myself for 16 years after I lost over a hundred pounds. And the primary reason it took me that long was for me, the financial aspect.

(01:16):
And so when it came to talking to other patients about the financial aspect of their investment, it was hard because it's like I know what it's like not to have the money and to really want to do something. And so I took my own baggage into these conversations of, I want something but I can't afford it. And so when we're in these roles, I think something we need to realize and that I learned after time and time again of speaking with patients and helping support my team to speak with patients about money is do not talk to patients out of your own pocketbook. Don't talk to them from your own experience, but talk to them from a place of how do I identify what could potentially be an obstacle for them? And if it is money, that's totally normal. And we have things, we have solutions, we have tools that can help them to overcome that objection or to overcome that obstacle, to be able to move forward and have the procedure of their dreams, live in their afterbody and live in their afterface.

(02:17):
Unfortunately, part of that is money. It's a fee-for-service environment. And so in order to be a really effective patient care coordinator, we have to get comfortable with speaking about money in a way that's non-threatening and is not the awkward or uncomfortable for anybody that's a part of the conversation. So here's what we're going to do on this episode. We've pulled together some of the best moments from the last year of this podcast and we've stitched them together for you into one episode so you can hear it from the people who have already figured it out. And we're talking about the people that have 100% same day conversion rates. We're talking about the people that have utilized financing to increase their conversion rates by 30, 40, 50% in order to be able to help patients and help the revenue grow and to help the practices grow.

(03:04):
These are people in practices that are helping patients to move forward and how to talk about the money. So by the end of this, you're not going to be perfect at it. Nobody is on day one. Nobody is even six, 10, 12, 18 months in. It takes repetition. It takes practice. But what you're going to walk into in your first consultation after this episode is knowing more than most of us did our first full year into it. So let's get to it. So before we get into any of the tactics or the scripts or anything like that, I want you to hear this part first because if right now you're thinking, I'm the only one that finds this awkward, everybody else seems to be fine. You're absolutely not alone at all. We're going to start with Janelle Robinson. She is the chief operating officer at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery in San Diego.

(03:54):
She's one of the most experienced coordinators, turned leaders in this whole entire industry. So let's listen to what she says about her own staff. When your team might, maybe they're young in their career, they're at the front or they're kind of a new PCC and they're not really used to talking about these large sums of money, how do you help get them comfortable with that?

Janelle (04:15):
It can be a lot. I think again, if we really train them on the value of what we offer, then it just to them it's like, this is worth it. And so we just have to get them to that place and that just comes through training, I think.

Andrea (04:39):
If you don't have the right training and you don't have time to get comfortable with that, it's almost like you're setting this piece of paper down and it's like, I'm going to just lay this little bomb down right here and then silence falls over the group because if you don't start the conversation earlier, it doesn't come as natural either. And it's like dropping a bomb and like, okay, now what's everybody going to do? Are they going to react bad or not? What do you think other than a bomb being dropped can go wrong if you wait until the consultation after they've met with the doctor to start talking about money or financing?

Janelle (05:14):
I mean, it's been our philosophy for so long and it's funny because maybe if it ever happens where somebody forgot to share the pricing, all they have to do is experience that awkwardness one time.

Andrea (05:29):
Now here's Bridgette DeBrino, who coaches coordinators all over the country and Sarah Amann from Zelgo Aesthetics in Pittsburgh. They're talking about the exact thing that holds new patient care coordinators back.

Bridgette (05:41):
I love that you brought that up, Blake, because that was something that our team certainly struggled with. You'd never want to offend somebody by offering a financing option. And it is top of mind because it could come off like you're assuming or judging in some respects. So Sara, I love that you just sit down and immediately from the start, this is just how we review our pricing and it's built in for every single consultation and from the start. So it's not even a question, would you like to? It's here are your options, which one fits for your lifestyle? I think it's a very healthy approach.

Eva (06:16):
For those of you who've coached both staff and providers on this, I think that's all three of you really. What do you think holds them back the most from bringing it up?

Sara (06:26):
Not knowing exactly how to do it. That's really it and not knowing the ins and outs. So my biggest thing in a clinic wherever I am is making sure my staff can fluently speak payment plans and they know how to set up a payment plan. They can go into PatientFi. They can go into the portal with the guest in an office and make sure everything's set up properly. I try to do everything I possibly can to make it smooth and easy where they don't have to do anything. So I get the license, make a copy. I do the application for them on Zoom or in my consultation. I type, they're with me and then they approve it and that's it.

Andrea (07:12):
Okay. So now you know it's not just you. Everybody finds this part hard at the beginning. The next thing you have to learn is what to actually call it, it being the financing because the words you choose, they will change everything. Patients react completely differently to the word financing versus the words monthly payment plans. Here's Eva Sheie from The Axis and Sara again on the language swap.

Eva (07:37):
I actually have two practices that I help directly and only because, well, there's two reasons. One is I like staying really close to what's happening in the practice and the other is that both have been people I've worked with closely for a very long time and so it would be weird not to. So that's a really great gift for me. And in one of them, just in the last, I would say two weeks, we've been working really hard to change the word we're using from financing to payment plans. And that's because that is a much more pleasant and less scary sounding way to talk about how are you going to pay for this? And I am curious for all of you if you have been working yourselves through that same process or if you've heard a difference in the way patients are talking to you about how they pay. Sara, you're new to the panel. Why don't you start and tell us what you're hearing.

Sara (08:40):
For sure. So I never use the word financing ever. I always use monthly payment plan. I always have. It's a much softer way to present it. So guests never question it. If the question I ever do get, it'd be, are they going to run my credit or what if I don't get approved for it?

Andrea (09:05):
So that's the words. Now here's the framework. Janelle likes to call this ease and it's the single most useful thing in this whole episode if you're new. So listen to how she introduces it.

Janelle (09:16):
So the first thing that we did was we changed the way we talk about financing on the phone and it's not just about asking, it's about having an everyone wants this approach. And so that's where I came up with an acronym for them, the coordinators to really use as a reminder. And then when we have this criteria on our call evaluation, it's not did you just talk about financing, it's did you use this approach, which we call the ease approach. And we want them to do it in a way that says everyone does this. This is just part of our process and share a story about, I know you mentioned you may not use a payment plan. However, a lot of people do come in and later realize that they want to take advantage of the interest free and just it feels a little bit easier for them to move forward.

(10:24):
If you apply prior to your consult, then we can have a comprehensive discussion. You don't even have to end up using it, but you can at least be able to visualize what all of your payment options are. And you can share a story about somebody who didn't think they were going to use a payment plan and then ended up having some unexpected expenses with their kids or this or that and you're just normalizing it and saying, "Everyone asks about this. Our patients love our payment plans. One in three of our patients end up using them." And then it just creates this instant comfortability for the patient to talk about it more.

Andrea (11:09):
Herae's what Ease actually stands for. Write this down.

Janelle (11:13):
Ease in itself speaks for itself and for them to remember everyone asks, assume interest, share a story and empower the choice. And so we want this to be an easy discussion, but we also want to remember that when they're telling that story or introducing this concept that they normalize it with the patient. Everybody wants to know about our payment plans and they can share a story about a patient and how they found it helpful and you just assume they want to hear about it and then it doesn't have to be awkward. You just assume and again, it makes it less intimidating for the coordinator too when they're having that money discussion.

Andrea (12:13):
So now you know what to call it. Next, you actually need to know what this stuff is because patients are going to ask you questions about how this stuff works. They're going to ask about APR, interest rate, term limits, everything. What happens if they miss a payment and you cannot fake your way through those answers. The good news is it really isn't that complicated once someone explains it to you. Here's Blake Lucas, our senior director at Patient Fi, giving the version of this lesson he gave every new hire on their first day. Take notes.

Blake (12:45):
So your interest rate and annual percentage rate or your APR are two different things. Your interest rate is kind of simply the cost to you to borrow money. So for every dollar that you borrow or your financed amount or your principal amount is like a term for that, your interest rate is like the amount that it costs you and that's usually shown as like an annual percentage. So that's where you kind of get that confusion where your annual percentage rate, interest rate, but they are actually different. So interest rate is just basically like the cost for the funds directly over time that you're charged. Your annual percentage rate is a great way for you to, great tool to compare loans and it's something actually to protect consumers. So you're going to see usually when you're like comparing like mortgages or you're comparing auto loans, like the APR is really going to help you kind of look at those two different products and decide which one's the best one for you.

(13:40):
So you might have two loans with the exact same interest rate but different APRs and what an APR represents is all the additional fees that could get charged for taking out that loan. So that could be things like origination fees, documentation fees, administration fees. Using Patient File as an example, we do not charge any upfront fees for loans. So there's no documentation fees, no origination fees, no application fees, none of that stuff. So in our scenario, your interest rate and your APR will always be identical. So they can be the same. So like you might have a 10% interest rate and a 10% APR that can be exactly the same. But if you've ever bought a house and you have a mortgage and you're looking, we're going through that whole, there's so many documents if you can remember, but there's one that will go through and give you a breakdown of all of your rates and kind of the cost of everything. One will show your interest rate and right now that might be what, like six, 7%. I forget where mortgages are right now.

Andrea (14:38):
Yeah, if you just bought a house.

Blake (14:39):
Yeah. So right now you might see six or 7% on your interest rate, but then when you go down a litle bit, you're going to see APR and you might see like it's a whole percentage point higher and that's because it's going to include all those extra fees that you have to pay. So now if you're looking at two different APRs, that can definitely help you. You might see one shows like 5.4% and one says 5% like, okay, this one over here has, it's going to cost me less in total to take out this loan, which helps me as a consumer.

Andrea (15:09):
Okay. So that's APR. Next is the one that scares everyone, which is compound interest. This is the one most of those medical credit cards run on and it's why a lot of patients end up paying way more than they thought they would. Here's Blake breaking it down.

Blake (15:24):
This is a big one and is a complicated one. I'll try not to get into the weeds too much, but compound interest is not the same as like simple interest. You may get like an auto loan through your credit union, right? That might just have a simple interest rate to it. So it's very straightforward. Compounded interest is just that it's interest charged on top of interest as you get through it. So one of the ways that these banks try to squeeze a little bit more extra money out of you is I'll try to do a simple example. Let's say you charge $100 to your card and every single day there's a little bit of interest that accumulates, right? So what compounded interest is going to do is let's say you swipe for $100. I'm going to use some kind of big numbers just to make it simple.

(16:12):
This is maybe a litle bit more dramatic than what it would be in real life. But let's say after day one, you owe $10 in interest. If you're going to pay off your balance that day, it'd be $110, right? But usually you go a whole month and then you'll make another payment. What compounded interest is going to do is going to take that $10 and it's going to add it to the hundred and convert it to basically like a principal balance. So that's like the amount you borrowed. So it's almost like you charged $110 to your card and then on day two it's going to use that percentage rate and use 110 as like the starting number and not 100. And then it's going to ... So now day two, your interest might be like a $12. So every single day it's compounding on top of itself.

(16:58):
So the interest is getting added to your principal balance and then they're calculating the percentage based off that new larger number as opposed to saying it's a hundred every single day and then calculating that interest and then just adding, then there's like a bucket of interest that's growing.

Andrea (17:13):
Now here's where this really bites patients. Medical credit cards with 0% promo offers when the promo runs out, all of the compounded interest you didn't see during the promotional period comes crashing down at once. Blake explains the trap and how a structured installment plan like PatientFi is different than that.

Blake (17:32):
The other thing that these medical credit cards can do is not only is it a daily compounded interest rate. So let's say you sign up for one of these 0% offers. You may have six months to pay off your balance before the interest kicks in, but what they're doing is they're calculating that interest in the background from the data purchase and they're doing that daily compounded interest, so they're calculating that. And then let's say six months and a day you still have a balance. They're going to take all of that interest and then they're going to add it to principle and then charge interest going forward on that new balance. So that's again, same kind of idea there. It's all that compounded interest that can add up very, very, very quickly can be difficult for many people to get out from underneath.

Eva (18:19):
Anyone who's ever gotten a credit card and used it without having the money to pay the bill should have learned this lesson by now.

Blake (18:28):
Yeah. And the tough part is too, like if you're a day late dollar short, or even if you just accidentally miss a payment somewhere down the line, like just human error you just forgot or whatever it was, it doesn't matter. The interest is there and you have no recourse and like that was the agreement and you're done. And so that can be really, really tough to deal with.

Eva (18:50):
PatientFi's plans don't have compound interest, right?

Blake (18:54):
No. Going back to what we talked about is like customer service or the patient and the provider being like our North Star, one of the main key differences is that we do charge just a simple interest on our programs. We don't do compounded interest ever. Even though we very easily could, we decided that wasn't in our best interest and we decided even though we could make more money doing it that way, it's not worth it.

Eva (19:18):
If a patient misses a payment on a PatientFi plan, what happens to them?

Blake (19:24):
Right now, noth. We do have a 10-day grace period for most of our payments and so you have 10 days to make up that payment after that there can be just like a standard late fee, 10 bucks or 15 bucks, whatever it might be. But the interest penalty, like if you're on like a 0% promotional plan with us does not come crashing down on you, doesn't change your promo, you still have the same end date. So if you have a tough month, maybe even two, you can get caught back up and still pay off by that promotional end date and take advantage of that offer.

Andrea (19:55):
All right. So you know the words and you know the product. Now, how do you actually bring this up with a real human being on a phone call or in the consultation room without sounding like you're trying to sell them a used car? This is where most new coordinators freeze because it feels pushy to bring up money, but just remember, it is not pushy to bring up money. When it's done right, it is the kindest part of the entire appointment. Here's Jenna Hennig nurse injector and aesthetic scale specialist out of Austin. She walks us through her exact playbook.

Jenna (20:27):
I mean, I would say first and foremost, the number one thing is when someone calls your office and asks for the price, don't immediately give price You're going to lose any opportunity to discuss any of these options with them. So first, get a little bit of information, discover that emotional driver. But once you do make it to the apropriate time to discuss what the total investment would be at that point, the way that I typically like to handle it is if a patient's calling in, like you said, for example, for mommy makeover, you've already figured out why they want to do it, why it's important to them. You've already asked all your pre-qualifying questions in that in my initial intake of them basically I'm usually asking them, "What's your ideal timeline and is there an ideal monthly budget that you're hoping to put towards this?

(21:07):
And then when we're able to have that conversation, they ask, "Okay, well, all that sounds great, but I need to know if I can even afford this. What does it look like as far as what I'm going to be paying?" And so the biggest thing when you present, I like to use a technique called anchoring. So when you present your pricing, you're first building the value saying, "Okay, so our mommy makeover includes X, Y, Z, XYZ, X, Y, Z, blah, blah, blah, blah." And the total investment for that procedure with all those inclusions is going to be $1 million or whatever one million divided by 12 is per month for 12 months and that's anchoring basically. So you give them a initial larger number and they're like, "Holy crap." And if it is a big sticker shock for them, which it won't be for everybody, but if it is, they're like, "Okay, wow, big number." And then you follow it with that smaller investment number.

(21:55):
So whether you're choosing a 12 month interest free financing plan or if you know what your rates are for 24 or 36 with fixed rates, you can offer them based on what they told you their monthly budget allowance was, you offer that lower anchor number to them so that way it makes more sense like, "Oh, well yeah, I mean, 36,000 sounds like a lot, but I could do $500 a month. Tell me more about that. " And it makes it very easy to offer two options that they can then inquire about which one fits best for them and you already know what their monthly budget was and you fit it in there.

Andrea (22:25):
Now what about when the patient pushes back on the monthly budget question? Jenna's got an answer for that too.

Jenna (22:31):
So usually you're bringing this up a little bit later in the conversation because that way you've already built a little bit of rapport. I have had a few instances where I get a lot of pushback and I'm like ... So I do think time is important because I had a few patients where I would bring it up and like, well, I would ask them what the monthly budget was and they're like, "Well, I mean, it depends how much is it overall." And I'm like, "Oh, well, I just want to make sure we're able to present you with all the appropriate options. So we have a total investment amount, but is there another amount monthly that you're comfortable spending so we can present you with the best overall plan?" And they're like, "Well, it depends on how much it costs." And I have gotten a lot of pushback on that.

(23:07):
So I think phrasing it in a way where it's in your investigative questioning initially of how long have you been looking into this? What other options have you looked into? Do you have an overall ideal investment that you're looking to spend? And then do you have ... That's usually when I ask the question then, do you have a monthly number that would feel comfortable if we were able to pace out payments for you? And then that way it's not at the point that they're asking for the total cost, it's in your investigative questioning that you're getting that monthly number. And then that way when it comes to presenting the cost, then you can say, "Okay, perfect. I know we discussed X, Y, Z, so the range of what you're looking for will be X to X. I know you mentioned that you'd be comfortable with a monthly spend of blah, blah, blah.

(23:53):
And so with our fixed interest rates at a blah, blah, blah, we would be able to get you in at this amount, which fits perfectly within your budget." Either way, whatever you decide with your provider when you meet with them in office, they're going to create a custom plan to address X, Y, Z concern, mirroring it all back, mirroring it back to the emotional driver, not just focusing on the financial aspect.

Andrea (24:13):
And here's Sara on what that looks like when payment plans are just baked in every consult. No special moment, no awkward pivot.

Sara (24:21):
I mean, financing monthly payment plans, whatever you want to say, it's just part of what I do. So I've never presented a sale and I mean ever without presenting the monthly payment plan, even if it's MedSpa, I always present a monthly payment plan. It takes the pressure immediately off them. It softens everything and then not having a payment due for a month after a procedure is a huge bonus.

Blake (24:54):
Yeah, I think that's fascinating. I hear that so often from different providers where they're able to soften that conversation. It's not this like for a lot of dollar conscious patients where if you start to quote that full price, that can be a bit of a sticker shock, but be able to talk to it as a monthly payment plan that's within budget and affordable, how that can quickly soften and make this conversation or their idea of this whole procedure, something that they can actually get finally. So I think that's fascinating that you're seeing that too.

Andrea (25:26):
So presenting the payment plan softens the moment, but here's the next move that most PCCs miss Alli Peitrella runs 100% same day close rate for Dr. Steven Camp in Fort Worth and a big piece of how she does it is that she won't put anyone on the surgeon's calendar until they've been pre-approved and here's exactly how she does it.

Alli (25:47):
And they'll also tell you at that point, even if they want financing or something, they'll just be like, "Well, it was higher than I was expected so I had started saving, but maybe yeah, I guess I do need some financing as well." Okay, no problem. And then you start transitioning into something educational so you don't have to camp out on the fact that you don't have enough money sitting aside for this. You just start educating right away. And so it's not uncomfortable. It's a really easy flow and that's when I start talking about patient buy. I'm like, "Okay, we have a really great option. It's going to act as kind of like a medical credit card." And I'll explain to them the application process and how easy it is to work with them and the payback options that they would be seeing out of that.

(26:29):
Know your office's payback options obviously and what you guys can offer. And then I'll usually say, "Well, that's going to be your next step. So if you think about all this stuff and it feels good and you do want to come in and meet Dr. Smith, go ahead and apply for PatientFi, see how much you get approved for. And once you've been approved for the amount that you need, give me a heads up, give me the green light and we'll go ahead and get you right on the books with him right away." So that gives you the opportunity to be like, Okay, you don't need to uncomfortably end this call because it's out of your price range or anything. You've got the tools you need and what else can I answer about that?

Andrea (27:06):
So if I'm hearing you right, Alli, basically when you're providing and they do say, "Yeah, financing would be good," you basically tell them, "Go ahead and get pre-approved. Let me know when you're done with that. " And then you schedule a consult. You don't schedule a consult until they've actually done it and gotten back ahold of you if they've affirmed that yes, they need it.

Alli (27:27):
Yeah. And I think that is based on several factors. If your schedule's dead, don't do that. I wouldn't do it. You want to let people in and give them the opportunity because it's not like they're not going to apply if they do want to move forward. I think if you are super slammed and your surgeon is booked out several months and it's a very experienced surgeon, it's better if you apply ahead of time. No, I love that. I love that. If it's a surgeon that has open availability, I'll just say, "Okay, well, that's going to be the option, but what's your timeframe?" I'll go straight into timeframe. Do you have an ideal timeframe that you want to get this done? And if they're like, "Yeah, I want to get it done by summer." And we're in March, I'm going to say, "Okay, let's go ahead and get the consult on the books, but please do me a favor before the consult, go ahead and apply for the financing." And I'll still put them on.

(28:12):
I'll still run that consult fee and lock in a spot. But just as a PCC, know where you're at, know where your practice is at, know how far out you're booked and know if that's appropriate to make it a requirement or not. And also talk with your surgeon about that. Some surgeons are like, "Absolutely not. Do not make people apply ahead of time." Other ones are like, "Definitely make them apply right now."

Andrea (28:34):
Okay. Last big thing. At some point, usually pretty fast, a patient is going to hesitate. They're going to say, "I don't think I need financing, or I'll just pay later." Or sometimes they'll say, "I just want to think about it. " What you do in that moment matters more than almost anything else in this consultation. The instinct is to back off and let them off the hook and be nice. The pros do the opposite. They lean in and do it very kindly. Here's Janelle one more time and then Heather Hughes Hardy in conversation with Jenna on what to do when the patient hesitates.

Janelle (29:09):
You're just normalizing it and saying everyone asks about this. Our patients love our payment plans, one in three of our patients end up using them and then it just creates this instant comfortability for the patient to talk about it more. And on some of these follow-up sessions with the coordinators when I've asked them, "How is it going? " Because we want them to also do the payment worksheets with the quotes. So when I've said, "Oh, did you do a payment worksheet for all of your consults yesterday?" And they'll say, "Well, no, so- and-so said they didn't want to finance, but you still have to do the worksheet. Still have the conversation, still put it in front of them because you never know something could change and you want them to have this in the back of their minds as a crutch or a backup. We are hitting it at all angles.

(30:10):
We updated our appointment confirmation email to say, "Step one, fill out your registration forms. Step two, apply for this soft inquiry check," however we worded it. But it's in there as just like it's a part of the process. It's not, "If you want to apply, here's a link." It's kind of like a presumptive approach.

Andrea (30:34):
So even when the patient says no, you still put the worksheet in front of them. Same logic applies when they push back on putting a card on file for an appointment.

Jenna (30:43):
That is the perfect time to reinforce. It's not a deposit. It's not money that you're taking. You say, "Absolutely. We are collecting nothing today. This is simply just a card on file in order to secure your booking per our cancellation policy. We do require this for all appointments of blah, blah, blah criteria. In order to secure your booking, again, nothing will be charged today. You are absolutely welcome to make your final and full payment on the day of your treatment, but in order to secure your booking, we do need to go ahead and put a card on file."

Andrea (31:10):
Now, what if they still say no?

Jenna (31:13):
I mean, if you think about it, what is the risk of putting a card down? You're not losing anything unless you don't abide by the policy. That's the only time you would ever lose anything. So if there's an emergency and they got in a really bad accident and something happened, are you going to charge them? Probably not. So if you think about it from that point of view of it's a little bit different for consult fees or appointment fees versus a card on file, if it's truly a card on file and they're really giving you pushback, they're probably not sure if they're going to show up. And so in that case, you can kind of just double down back on them and say, "I know that you created this really exciting treatment plan with Nurse Jenna. I know that you're both really excited to get started. We do require this card on file. Again, nothing will be charged. It's just per our cancellation policy." If you're still unsure about moving forward, tell me, is it that you're unsure about the plan that you created with Nurse Jenna?

(32:06):
Is it the total investment that you guys talked about? What do you feel like you're a little bit hesitant on the finalization of your booking? And so then instead of being like, "If you're not sure, talk to me later," or, "Oh, it's fine. Just don't worry about it. " You're actually digging into, where is that hesitation coming from? Because there's something in their mind where they're like, "Oh, I don't know if this is right." And that's why they don't want to do it because you will literally lose nothing with a car no file unless you don't go by the policy.

Andrea (32:33):
And here's Heather summing up the whole posture.

Heather (32:37):
It makes so much sense when you say it. I just want to acknowledge too, having sat in that seat at the time, that would not have occurred to me to ask. You don't know what you don't know, but it makes so much sense. If they're showing hesitation, what is the kind thing to do? It's to dive into that with them and figure out where it's coming from versus I feel like so often and it's human nature, but we get worried about ourselves of like, "I'm uncomfortable now. I don't know what to say now." But if you take a second, take a deep breath and think, "How can I really help this person?" There's a clear avenue of where to go next. So I actually really love that.

Andrea (33:16):
That's it. That's the whole crash course. Here's what I want you to take with you before you walk into your first consultation. You're not going to be good at this on day one. You're going to be awkward and that's okay. You're going to forget what to say. You're going to bumble a price and want to crawl under your desk. Every single person you heard on this episode, including me, has been there. The only difference between you and them is reps. They've had thousands of these conversations and you haven't had your first one yet. So go have the first one. Then go have the next one. Listen back to your own phone calls if your practice records them. Notice what worked and what didn't. Ask the senior coordinator on your team to sit down on a consult and tell you what they would've done differently. That's how you build the muscle.

(34:01):
And one last thing, talking about money is not the worst part of this job. It's actually one of the most important things you'll ever do for a patient because if you do it well, you're not pressuring them, you're freeing them up to actually have the thing they came in for. That's the whole job. Welcome to PracticeLand. We're glad you're here.

Blake (34:21):
Got a wild customer service story or a sticky patient situation? Send us a message or voicemail. If your tale makes it into our "She did what?" segment, we'll send a thank you gift you'll actually love. Promise, no cheap swag here.

Andrea (34:33):
Are you one of us? Subscribe for new episode notifications and more at practicelandpodcast.com. New episodes drop weekly on YouTube and everywhere you can listen to podcasts.