Responding to “How Much Does It Cost?” Like a Boss

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 (00:23):
Welcome back to Practiceland. Greetings, and thanks for listening today. We've got front desk expert back with us again today, Alli Petriella, and she's going to help us out with a very common and very annoying incoming caller question. All right, Alli, what are we going to talk about today?

Alli (00:42):
I want us to start by taking on the challenge for the front desk, which is when a caller calls in and just asks us right away what is the price for a tummy tuck? And they are very insistent on just wanting that price right away, not wanting to discuss anything or share very many details. So I think that that's probably the biggest thing that we tackle at the front desk and the biggest challenge to overcome as a new front desk employee. So yeah, let's dive into it.

Andrea (01:07):
First, let's just start. Why do you think so many callers start with this question in the first place?

Alli (01:14):
I think that prospective patients don't really know what to ask. There's so many things that go into a surgery and every surgeon does the surgery a little bit differently, and you should really be asking questions like, where's your surgical facility? How long has Doc been practicing? What's the surgical team about? What kind of anesthesia? There's so many other things to ask, but they don't know that stuff yet because they're just relying on what they've seen on Google and they're probably thinking that they already know all the pieces, and it's just kind of cookie cutter, every office is the same. So I think it's more just a lack of knowledge and not really knowing which questions to ask yet. And they think that they're comparing apples to apples when they call offices. So the same tummy tuck is happening, so the only differentiator is price. So we need to let them know that that's not what they're doing. They're really often comparing apples to oranges, getting a different procedure, office to office.

Andrea (02:08):
What should we get into our own mind first before we try and dissuade away from this question, just about cost? I know that cost is very important and it's a huge barrier to entry for so many people, the majority, vast majority. And so it is very, very important. But what should we know about this particular kind of caller so that we can embrace this as an opportunity to turn it in our way?

Alli (02:38):
I think there's having the desire to be helpful. So to go into that when someone's asking that question, know that they likely don't have all the information on that procedure, and we're wanting to help them understand what information they need. So if we know that going into it, we can have a little bit more compassion for just that. They're wanting a question right away, and we can acknowledge the questions that they're asking so that we can set them up with the right resources, pass them to the correct people, and really walk in a directive way that we're leading them to the right answers instead of just like, oh, here's this number. Good luck with it, hope you figure it out. Because that's not helpful at all, and we want to be helpful.

Andrea (03:20):
What are some things, let's start with what we shouldn't say. So I call you, you answer the phone, you give a lovely warm introduction. My first question to you is, yeah, I'm interested in having a mommy makeover, but cost is going to be really a huge issue for me. So how much is it first, I don't want to waste anybody's time.

Alli (03:38):
Well, what we shouldn't say is that's going to be $48,000.

Andrea (03:45):
Perfect.

Alli (03:47):
So we don't want to just answer that, but we also don't want to blow them off and just say, well, what's your height and weight?

Andrea (03:54):
So don't just drop a price. Don't ask for height and weight immediately.

Alli (03:58):
Don't say something like, oh, I'm not allowed to give that to you, or I don't have that. You don't have to necessarily say that either. What we want to do is acknowledge what they just asked us so they know we're listening. Oh, okay, yeah, I love to get you some pricing for the mommy makeover. Let me get you with the right person that has that information for you. And that's a positive way, like we were talking about earlier, that's a positive way of almost apologizing passively. Instead of saying, oh, I'm sorry, I don't have that. Okay, great, let me connect you with the person who does have that. So you're still being helpful, you're still acknowledging because if someone's calling in and they're just asking for a price right away, they're probably not having a ton of patience with the conversation just already. And then if you just go ahead and dismiss them and ignore them, that's going to escalate the emotions in the conversation very quickly because now they're going to be like, okay, this girl doesn't know what she's talking about and she's skirting around my questions and I'm mad now. So they want to be heard, they want to be acknowledged, and then they want answers. So do that for them without necessarily just giving them the answer.

Andrea (05:08):
Yeah, and I think too, in the instance, in the example that I shared where we definitely get calls like this where people right out of the gate will say, I'm on a budget. I don't necessarily want to waste anybody's time. I want to know how much it is if it's even in the ballpark of what I can afford. And so I think this is also one opportunity where we don't get into the details, but we can also say, well, we definitely have options that Susie, the PCC will be able to talk to you about in order to help supplement anything that you need. But she's going to have all the details and going to be able to walk you through that entire process. So not necessarily saying, well, we have this available and getting into the nitty gritty and the details of all of the financial options, but because cost, especially in today's economy, is really a barrier to entry, and we're finding in practices across the nation in all different kinds of markets that the cost is really, really important. And patients are very focused on that, even in areas where they haven't been in the past. So acknowledging once again and saying, I've got the girl that's going to have all the answers for you and be able to walk you through that, whether it's for pricing, for recovery, for financing, any of those things, Jesse's going to be your girl or whoever that person may be.

Alli (06:25):
What I was thinking is sometimes at the front desk it would get to that rubber meets the road where we have no choice but to say something just because we know we don't want them as a patient at this point, and we'll give them a wild range. We'll be like, well, our breast augmentations can range anywhere from 7,000 to 20,000. It totally depends on what you need. So if someone's really pushing on you that hard, give a wild range, they're going to fall somewhere in between that. There's literally no way of me knowing where we're going to fall in that until we gather a little bit more information.

Andrea (07:01):
Right. Because what they think is a breast aug is actually a breast lift and aug with mesh and it going to cost 20,000. But until they have that call with a PCC, if we give them a range of nine to $11,000 and then we find out they breastfed three children, they lost a hundred pounds, their boobs are down to their, like then they're going to be ticked off. Well, the front desk told me it was only up to 11,000. So that's why you cannot give ranges at the front desk because no one's asking the right questions to get them the right information. And the patients that you miss range are definitely the ones that are going to be pissed off and they're going to complain and they're going to leave you a review online that says, well, I was told it would be 11,000, and then I got to consultation and they told me it was 22,000. Like that's why you don't do that, for sure. So biggest takeaway on this one, what do you think is our call to action here as far as what we should and shouldn't say when people are just asking for pricing?

Alli (07:59):
I would probably say again, make sure you're always acknowledging. I think that's the biggest thing that we see in practices right now is that front office person knows they're not supposed to answer that question, and so they'll skirt around it. Before you skirt around it, acknowledge what they just asked you and why they're calling. So do that and let them feel heard and then connect 'em with the right resources.

Andrea (08:21):
Yep, absolutely. Wonderful. Well, Alli, thank you again. And where do we follow you online for more once again?

Alli (08:28):
I am on LinkedIn. It's Allison, A-L-L-I-S-O-N, Petriella, P-E-T-R-I-E-L-L-A.

Andrea (08:35):
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Alli. For anyone out there listening, if you have a question that you'd love us to answer, just send us a message. You can send it through practicelandpodcast.com and we would be happy to tackle this with you.

Blake (08:48):
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 (09:00):
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