Yes You CAN Have a 100% Same-Day Close Rate

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 skin care 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 (00:25)
Welcome back to Practice land, where we help you learn and earn. Today, we are so excited to have Alli Petriella back. Thank you, Alli, for being here.

Alli (00:35)
Yeah, thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

Andrea (00:37)
Awesome. So it is a Saturday morning. We're both so busy during the weeks now that ⁓ we're just here on a Saturday. So the vibes are going to be fire. We're probably going to be a little silly if anything happens like we've had pre-shows. So today we're going to talk about something that is so critical to success in a plastic surgery, aesthetic practice, and something that, you know, there can be a lot of different opinions about how important this is.

and how to do it. So we are going to talk about the same day close and really turning your live consultations into booked procedures ⁓ so that we're really optimizing our time and really helping patients get to that point where they are ready to move forward, take action and secure their surgical date with our providers. So let's just start off, Ellie, what is your same day close rate now that you're back in the practice and absolutely killing it?

Alli (01:35)
Well, actually, excited to report that we just got into the hundreds. So we just started booking 100 % same day as of last week for one of our surgeons and a few weeks ago for the other surgeon. So when I started here, it was a little bit lower of a same day close rate because it wasn't patients that I had previously put on the schedule. But now we are at 100.

Andrea (02:01)
Okay, so wow. All right. So stick around because at the end of this episode, Alli is going to share the very most important thing that she does that almost no patient coordinator ever ever does. And that's going to help you immediately. But it takes more than just one thing to get a patient on the schedule for their procedure, especially that same day close. So ⁓ let's kind of talk about why, first of all, most

coordinators struggle with this. I'm just out of curiosity, Alli, we've seen a lot in our time and we've worked with lots and lots of different people. What do you think a bad consultation actually looks like? Name the habits, talk about some of the blind spots, what do you see?

Alli (02:47)
Yeah, I would say the biggest thing is ⁓ anything that comes as a surprise to a patient, whether it's meeting you as the PCC for the first time, whether it's the price point being a new number that they weren't expecting. ⁓ So I think that the biggest mistake that I see PCC is making is just treating that as the first time that they're meeting the person ⁓ or kind of building the relationship. So ⁓ as more you can do on the front end before they even come in the office, the more you're setting that patient up for success and that's how you're going to get that same day close.

Andrea (03:21)
So ideally, we're not giving any new information the day of the consultation. And so how do we do that?

Alli (03:29)
Yeah, I would say just make sure that you're connecting and making the PCC the only person that's scheduling consultations. ⁓ I think it can get a little wonky when maybe like front desk is scheduling consultations or like if everyone in the office knows how to pick up the phone and schedule a consultation. ⁓ We're getting a lot of people on there that just aren't prepared and ⁓ it is not so that we can be selective and like.

have a higher conversion rate, it is to help our patients. ⁓ That's why we want them to talk to the PCC first, because I've had patients come in and they weren't prepared beforehand and everything's a surprise to them and they're really overwhelmed and it's just too much to digest. ⁓ But they're very thankful when they're like,

we talked about this. You told me this weeks ago or months ago and you gave me the time to prepare for it because when they come in and meet your doctor, they're so excited and they want to book their surgery. And if all the pricing and all that ancillary information that you're giving them is new, they're going to be too overwhelmed and it's going to stress them out. So they want it to like you want that consult day to be everything else out of the way ahead of time on the phone so that all they're focusing on is meeting your surgeon and making sure that they're aligned with him.

Andrea (04:41)
I love how you said what I am a firm believer of is that this is how we best also serve the patient. Like, yes, we're talking about the business side. Yes, we're talking about the money side. Yes, we're talking about the conversion side. But coming, we were both patients of aesthetics prior to getting into this business. And so I think we both have a very unique perspective of what is the best way that we serve a patient? How do we best prepare them? And in most cases, patients don't understand

the whole process, they don't know what they don't know. And so when they have this person in a patient care coordinator, surgical consultant, whatever you want to call it role, that actually really does help to learn about them. And then based upon what we learn, educate them about the applicable things for their unique situation. It not only does it do the actual thing we're trying to do, which is educate, prepare.

and all of that, but it also helps us to create a bond of trust. It helps us to create an environment where they feel safe because they feel heard and they feel unique, not just like a, let me throw some information at you and you can come in and meet with a doctor. So walk me through what you do first of all on that call that we talked about. You don't have to like tell me every single little thing, but kind of give me the overview. You know, how long do they take? What are your real goals in the call?

where do those calls usually lead and some really, really important points that are like non-negotiables we have to have set up before we get off that call and schedule consultation.

Alli (06:16)
It's really a time that you're just getting to know the patient and getting to know what they want and giving them all the information that they're looking for and needing in their journey. ⁓ I would say my calls range anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Sometimes patients have a lot to share and so those calls get a little longer because you're really the first person that's sitting down and asking them really vulnerable questions about their journey.

opens the floor for them to open up about a lot of stuff in their life. allow yourself when you get on those calls enough time for it to be super long, because your main thing is just that patient that is talking to you right then. And you just want to make them feel like, okay, you did the right thing by picking up the phone and calling. ⁓

Andrea (07:02)
So tell me, sorry to interrupt, tell me how do you get into a 30 minute call from someone that calls and said, yeah, I'm interested in what's the price of a tummy tuck? How long are you guys booked out? How does that, how do you, because it's a fine craft and it's something that I train my coaching gals literally every single day. ⁓ But how do you get from patients who call with the questions they think are important to getting into that phone call?

Alli (07:29)
You're asking questions to understand if the procedure that they're calling in about is the procedure that they actually need. But for them, it triggers them to share a lot more. So I'm asking what type of procedure are you interested in? And they might say a tummy tuck. So then I'll say, OK, walk me through what you're seeing with the tummy area and what you want to see different or what your goals are for this procedure. And then they might start telling you, like, the skin feels really tight, but I just have this little pouch of fat right here. And it's

not even a tummy tuck or whatever it is, but then they start telling you the history of how it got there. Like after kids, if it is a tummy tuck and they're talking about the skin laxity and they're like, after my third kid, I had a C-section and now it's just kind of hanging there. And, ⁓ it's just been bothering me and I work out really hard and they'll go into all those things and it gives you the chance to like validate them as woman to woman or woman to man and just be like, okay, I see you like.

congratulations on the weight loss that you've had so far. You're working your butt off. There's only so much that we can do. And then that's when you need a surgeon and people like Dr. Smith exist for that. But just asking questions about what led to this decision, how long have you been thinking about this? What made you finally pick up the phone and call us just so you can learn about them?

And then beyond that, also gathering just some brief medical history to ensure that they're qualified for surgery. You don't want to be bringing in a bunch of people for consults that aren't going to be able to have surgery with us. So ruling that out ahead of time before they come in, before they take the money out, and before they take the time out of their schedule to come in and spend time with you.

And patients recognize that. And I think as PCCs, we need to be comfortable with telling them, the reason I'm gathering this is because I don't want to take your money and I don't want to take time out of your schedule if we're not going to be able to meet your goals. This is for you. And they're like, my gosh, thank you so much for asking these questions then.

Andrea (09:25)
Qualifying the questions is really, really critical to some callers. Some won't even question your questions, but some callers are a little bit ⁓ more critical or cynical about the process. so if you have standard ways that you answer, like when I love what you said, basically this breaks down to a couple main questions during the goals section where you're learning about the patient, which is,

to your point. So tell me a little bit about what you're seeing in the whatever area. What is it now? What would you like it to be after surgery in an ideal world? You know, so you can get it in how they're feeling about it because that also comes out a lot because we know that patients make decisions based on emotion. And so when we can talk about how they're feeling and how they want to feel after is great. So really tell me what's going on. Tell me what you see and what you would like to see.

And then you also said the other two things that are so critical is how long have you been considering doing this procedure? And also why is now a good time to explore your options? So during the beginning of the call, if you don't understand those three things, what they want, how long they've wanted it, and why now is a good time, you're setting yourself up for failure. Because they could have this idea kicking around for 10 years since their last child was born about

this breast reduction, breast lift, breast augmentation, whatever the case may be. They've been thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it. And it's just ideas in their head. But as soon as you ask the question, so how long have you been thinking about this? And they say, well, you know, actually it's been like 10 years. That's like a huge aha moment for the patient too, to help them feel like, wow, yeah, I've thought about this long enough. I, yeah, it's time, which again, like,

Alli (11:15)
Yeah, it's time.

Andrea (11:19)
That's our job as PCCs is to support them and to serve them and also lead them down a path where they feel okay with making this decision and very confident with it too, which answering questions like that is what's going to get them there, not us telling them, well, You really need this procedure. You deserve it. But when they reaffirm it to themselves, it just makes much more sense. And then getting on to exactly what you were saying next, I think with those medical questions, the main things that we want to focus on are those that would be any disqualifiers to your point for surgery. every office, I've been shocked ⁓ in many of the offices that I've worked in just because you think that every practice is potentially the same.

but every practice actually has different requirements. They have different BMI requirements. have different, you know, some facial plastic surgeons, depending upon their anesthesia providers, they will do surgery on people that use CPAPs. Others will not do surgery on people that use CPAP machines. So knowing what are the disqualifiers for surgery for your specific practice, those are the questions that you need to get to the root of on the phone call.

Alli (12:30)
I had a meeting when I started at this practice, I had a meeting with our clinic nurse team and both surgeons to ask them, what are the absolute disqualifiers? I don't need to go through a full medical history. We're not putting together an HMP right now, but what are the main questions? And so I think I have like six or seven questions that I just like are yes or no. And then if yes, is it controlled with medication? What medication are you taking type thing? ⁓ So there's beyond questions. ⁓ And then at the end, I always just say, is there anything else significant in your medical history at all that you feel like we should know about? ⁓ And if at that point something comes up, we say, OK, let me pause and talk with Dr. Smith and just see what his thoughts are on this and see if we would be able to get around it. So yeah, it's just understanding not all their medical history, but just if you can't come in, this is why type thing.

Andrea (13:24)
Exactly. And I think some practices, and I've seen some practices, that they'll do this medical checklist. And so this conversation turns from something that's exciting and educational and relationship developing to a medical inquiry. then it's like, wah, pfft, you know? Boring. Absolutely, yes, this is surgery. Absolutely, yes, this is critical. That's why we do have to gather some information.
But to do a complete, to your point, to do a complete H &P on the phone with the very first phone call, that's not what this phone call is for. It's to suss out anything that will be exclusionary to them being a candidate for surgery. So what kind of happens next in the phone call that's really getting us to our goal of patients being prepared during consultation?

Alli (14:16)
Yeah, I give them all the information that would be pertinent in making a decision upfront. So I run through First of all, you've got to build the value while you're also giving them information. So I'll go through, okay, well, this is our surgeon and some fun facts that are relatable specifically to the procedure that they're interested in. ⁓ So like Dr. Camp specifically, if someone's calling in about a facelift, he's one of the few surgeons that does a true deep plane facelift. He did really extensive training, traveled internationally. Like I go through the things that are pertinent for that specific procedure that he's

earned to himself. And then I'll start talking about our facility and kind of the accreditation behind it. So people like to know where is the surgery going to be happening? Are they going to have to plan to go to a hospital? So I just tell them, you know, it's here and this is highly accredited. ⁓

the type of anesthesia people want to know that I tell them about the incisions to expect because these are the scars that you're going to live with after surgery. ⁓ Talk about recovery and spend a lot of time there. In this whole section is very consultative. So I'll share a little bit of info and then ask a question. So I'll be like, let's camp out on recovery for a minute. Do you work at all? What is your day to day life look like? And then I'll tell them this is how much time you need off of that. ⁓

And then this is the full recovery process. These are some pertinent things to expect. ⁓ Like if it's a breast dog, you want to tell them they have an X amount of pound weight restriction for the first six weeks, whatever it is, because that will disqualify some people. You we have some young mamas who have a few young ones at home and they're just like,

Absolutely not. My husband works all the time and I'm taking care of my kids and I'm picking them up all the time and that's not going to be possible for me. I just had someone the other day that that was kind of their disqualifying thing and she's like, I think I'm going to have to wait until my kids are a little bit older to do this because I can't get help around home. So, you know, they need to know that kind of stuff.

And then I'll go into pricing. do give them an estimate based on what we've talked about. Because at that point, you should have a pretty firm understanding of what the surgical plan is going to be based on all the information that you've gathered from them. And then tell them what that estimate is inclusive of, and then see if it's something that they've already been saving up for, or if they need financing options.

Andrea (16:37)
How do you ask that? Sorry to butt in here, but ⁓ this is really, really critical. So how do you transition and how do you deliver that information while also building the value of everything that includes in all this? So I'm your patient. Let's pretend. Tell me.

Alli (16:54)
Yeah, I'll just say, so based on everything we're talking about, I'll give you an estimate for the tummy tuck with the lipo 360. We always do that as a combination. So for this procedure, we're going to be looking between about 21 to 25,000. And that is...

all-inclusive pricing here at our facility. So it's just something to know on how we quote out. So that is going to encompass your surgeon's fees, facility fees, anesthesia, pre and post-op visits, supplies, garments. So tell them how you build your estimate structure. And then I'll just transition right away into kind of knowing that price range. Is it something that you've been saving up for already or is it something that you'd like me to share financing options on?

It's a really gentle way to ask them if they're going to need financial support ⁓ because it's kind of assuming nobody has by starting with, have you been saving up? It is assuming that nobody has that amount of money sitting aside. So it doesn't put anybody's like guards up. And they're not like, my gosh, I don't feel fit in here. I don't have the budget for this. It's like, have you already started saving for it? Or would you like me to share financing options? Because if you want that, I'm the gal for it. ⁓

And I've never had someone kick back when it's asked that way and just be like, is that any of your business? No.

Andrea (18:15)
that we have to pay for and so just wondering I'm here to help.

Alli (18:20)
And they'll also tell you at that point, like even if they don't, 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. Like, you 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 pie. I'm like, okay, we have a really great option. It's gonna 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. Know your office's payback options obviously and what you guys can offer.

And then I'll just, I'll usually say, well, that's going to be your next step. So if you like, 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 a patient vie, 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. Um, so that gives you like the opportunity to be like, okay, you don't need to like uncomfortably end this call because it's out of your price range or anything, like you've got the tools you need and what else can I answer about that?

Andrea (19:39)
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, like 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 (20:00)
Yeah, and I think that is based on several factors. If your schedule is dead, don't do that. I wouldn't do it. You 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. 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. 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. ⁓ So that's up to your surgeon and you know, handle it as as they wish.

Andrea (21:12)
What if someone says to you, maybe I've got the money, but maybe, maybe not. How do you handle that sort of situation?

Alli (21:21)
So obviously they're not like super serious if they're answering it like that because they don't know which direction they're going. So I would go into the next kind of checker, which would just be like, okay, yeah, no worries. Well, here's the options. I'd give them all the education. And then I'd just go, do you have an ideal timeframe for when you're looking to get it done? Do you have any trips planning like coming up, anything like that? And if they're still iffy right there, they're probably not ready. And so I'll just transition.

you have to be directive on this call. So at that point, I'll just be like, all right, well, yeah, it seems like you've still got a little bit of research to do. So take the time, marinate on everything we talked about. And when you're filling, like you want to come in and meet Dr. Smith, give me a shout and we'll get you on. So just be direct. Don't just be like, OK, well, like, do you want to schedule a console or like, do you want to wait? Like, you know, tell them, you know, it sounds like you need a little bit more time. And if they like.

push back after that, then okay, like go ahead and schedule a consultation. We're not like gatekeeping just because they 100 % don't like check every box. But you know, if you push back a little and just say, take the time and they're like, no, actually I'm ready to go now, then go ahead and put them on.

Andrea (22:32)
And so do you have a follow-up process with them in place where, say for example, you have a preliminary call or you do this consultation phone call and they're just not ready? Again, I think this is also very, very different and it's very practice dependent because to your point, if you're booked out for, you you're scheduling your consultations three months in advance or two months in advance, it is going to be where you can put up more barriers to getting folks in. But if you have an open...

consult schedule for starting in two weeks, ⁓ those barriers kind of need to go up a little bit. It's like that I always think of a drawbridge. Like the fuller you are, the more that drawbridge goes down and the more open you are, you've got to be ⁓ pliable or not pliable. I don't know what the word is that I'm looking at. You got to be like a very bendy person. But you have to accommodate the volume of new.

leads that you're getting, and you need to accommodate the volume that is available on your doctor's schedule. Like if he's about to go out for three weeks on vacation, you're not going to let just anybody on those very, very coveted spots because your time is so limited. Yeah. et cetera. Go ahead.

Alli (23:47)
And I think that's a very acquired skill and I think that that's the importance of having a highly trained PCC in your practice to be adaptable like that and realize that things are

Andrea (23:57)

Adaptable⁓ That was it.

Alli (24:00)
That was the word. Realize that things are situational. You're not gonna get on every single one of these calls and follow a script and check, check, check, yes or no. This person goes, this person doesn't. You're gonna feel it out by the situation. Feel it out by everything that particular patient has told you. Is this appropriate to schedule right now? Is this not appropriate based on our circumstances right now, based on the surgeon that they're gonna match up with? You have to realize it's all situational. And I think that's the toughest thing to find.

in a PCC is the ability to just be adaptable and realize that there's complexities to every single call that you get on that you've got to be considerate of.

Andrea (24:39)
and just paying attention to the calendar, paying attention to the schedule, knowing what's going on and adapting your strategy ⁓ based on those very important factors because time with your surgeon is finite. That's the one resource that we have to make sure we're optimizing throughout our entire intake process with our new patients. And if we only have a little bit of time, we have to make sure that every single patient that we look at in the

What's to their eyes is really prepared and they're ready. Okay, we get to the point where let's go back to the consult call. We kind of diverted a little bit. Squirrel. ⁓ So we're in this call. Patient says, okay, they give you, they either tell you, I just won the lotto. I'm paying cash. I don't need financing. Okay, great. Or they say, I do need financing. They get themselves pre-approved. We talk to them. We schedule their consultation. How do you really prepare them for that day?

before you actually hang up the phone.

Alli (25:39)
I tell them everything to expect. So I'll say, okay, I'm getting it on the schedule here. On the day of the consultation, this is exactly what is going to happen. You're going to come in, you're going to do this, you're going to do that. I walk them through it, start to finish so that they it's not going to be like, ⁓ what happens at the consultation? I tell them,

who they're gonna meet that day, what the events are gonna be on that day. And then I pivot into what I need from you beforehand. I'm gonna be emailing over some paperwork. Please be on the lookout for that. I need you to complete that at least 48 hours before the consultation. ⁓ So let me know if you don't see it come through. And then I also tell them ⁓ if you need to reschedule or cancel or anything that happens with the schedule, please let me know at least 48 hours in advance so we can get things moved around appropriately.

ask them for their consent that they're understanding that. Does that make sense? Is that okay with you? Is that sound good? And then they'll be like, yeah, I'll let you know. If I have to change anything, I'll let you know by tomorrow. They normally are like really quick with it. And then I transfer into telling them about booking a surgery date. ⁓ So, at the time of the consultation, we will usually pick your surgery date and to secure that date on the calendar, it's gonna be...

whatever your practice requires, it's going to be this amount of deposit. So I tell everyone, bring your calendar and bring your deposit with you or be prepared for that. If you do get excited, most people like to book that day. So I just warn them because you don't want them sitting in there and you present a quote to them. And I'm like, it's 20 % to lock in a date. And they're like, ⁓ Lord, I didn't know about that. You want them to be able to know, OK, if I want to do this, this is what I'm going to have.

Most of them are prepared.

Andrea (27:21)
Yeah. And creating that, again, this is all about service. My goal always is this person clearly wants to do something. I need to cover every base so that they're prepared to take action to get into their goal as quickly as possible. And if you don't educate them about that on the phone, about how they can secure time on your surgeon's OR schedule, then that just delays their gratification and their ability to get their goal body face.

knows whatever it may be. Again, it's that whole mindset of I'm not being pushy. I'm not being salesy. I am best serving them by completely preparing them how to move forward and get one step closer to their goal.

Alli (28:04)
Absolutely. And I think this might be an appropriate time if we want to talk about pre-booking, because it will depend, depending on how busy your surgeon is. If your surgeon books way out in advance, you do likely want to propose the option of pre-booking. And I don't know if we want to dive into that now or we want to save it for a different episode, but this would be the time to propose that if you want to try to pre-book before they come in.

Andrea (28:31)
Yeah. Let's talk about it right now. I think it's really, really important because there are a lot of surgeons that are scheduling three, four, five, six, seven, a few surgeons that are scheduling more than that into the future. But yeah, let's talk about the pre-book.

Alli (28:46)
Yeah, I feel like I get asked that a lot by other PCCs is just like, how do you pre book? Like, how do you even have that conversation? And I think the key to it is approaching it, knowing that it's for the patient, it's not for you. So the way that you're going to present it to them is you've got the way I explain it is I'm like, you've got two options. So let me run you through it. And then you tell me what feels like the best fit for you. ⁓ So as of right now, our next available consult with Dr. Smith is going to be, you know, say it's

May 1st and right now his next available surgery date is July 5th. So if we want to book just the consultation, we can, but do know when you come and that'll be the $250, whatever we said earlier, to just schedule the consultation and then we can wait and on that day we can pick your surgery date, but just know by then we're likely going to be booking into August or September.

The second option is if that July timeframe sounds really good to you, you do have the option to pre-reserve that. It would be that 20 % deposit of the surgery total, and that gets that surgery locked in for you so you don't miss out on that timeframe. And just know, I mean, this is the kind of beauty of making your deposit refundable. People have mixed policies on this, but if your deposit is refundable, I let them know that 20 % is fully refundable up until

this date. So say you come in and you don't absolutely love Dr. Smith, no problem. You have up until one month before surgery to get that back. ⁓ And so what sounds better for you? Do you want to make sure you lock in that July timeframe or do you not really care and want to wait until the day of the consult? ⁓ That majority of the...

consults that I'm seeing now are pre booked because they're like, yeah, I don't want to miss out on that. Like I do this, this timeframe is really important to me. Um, but just be honest with that. Like there's no, you know, it's just being really honest. Like I'm preparing you. Um, I don't want you to come in and it, you know, I'm telling you right now we have surgery in July. I don't want you to come in and just be like,

there's not any surgery until September now. I thought you guys were booking into July, like, yeah, we were three months ago. ⁓ So just give them that option. And then some people are like, know, ⁓ they're like, I'd rather wait and meet him. I'm like, totally good. Let's just do the consultation fee. Just know I would look at some dates and maybe like September, October then just to come in prepared with because that's likely what we'll be looking at at that time.

Andrea (31:15)
And I think the caveat to that and the thing that makes that work more successfully in some practices than others is how far are you scheduling your consultations from day of call and how far out are you scheduling your surgeries? Because if I have a call with somebody today and I'm like, hey, you want to come in in two weeks for a consultation, they're going to much more likely be like, I can wait two weeks to actually meet them to get my preferred date in July, as opposed to, ⁓

If I'm not even coming in to meet with them until May, there's two months from now until May of all these people that these surgeries are going to stack up. So then I'm going to be pushed out even two months after July 5th, which, you know, you do the math, you're like, I don't want to wait until August or September for surgery, September, or maybe even October for surgery. So I think. Not that it can't work, however, getting that pre book prior to the patients coming in.

is a lot, ⁓ it makes a lot more sense for the patient anyway when you do have like an extended timeframe between time of call and consult. Yeah, absolutely.

Alli (32:23)
Absolutely.

⁓ And just another, mean, obviously one of those keys is having a refundable deposit. ⁓ If you are kind of anti-refundable deposit, I would at least make the exception for pre-booking and just say, if you come in and you don't absolutely love him, no problem, we can run that back. ⁓ But make an exception there. You don't want to be taking, I've seen some practices, take that deposit, the patient comes in, something changes, and it's just.

period non-refundable and like that stinks. They hadn't even met the surgeon yet and they took that leap with you and then, you know, just make sure you at least make exceptions if you're going to offer that option.

Andrea (33:02)
And I think the key to the, is a whole other sidebar that we could have a complete podcast about. ⁓ but I think the key with a refundable deposit is I have mixed feelings about it for sure. ⁓ but the goal there is to help the patient feel comfortable that if they do need to make any changes, that they do have a timeframe in which they can do it. and on the practice side, it's like, well, we're doing all this work. Like we can't not get paid for it. Well,

We really shouldn't be scheduling people that aren't serious and that we're confident about anyway. Also as business owners, we need to just accept the fact that sometimes people are going to have people in their life that die or that lose their jobs and can no longer do this. And then you can make the right decision and figure if you want to be on the right or wrong side of karma and how you deal with that. ⁓ But also as long as you make the refund period long enough where you can fill a hole,

You're not really risking too much. So when it's refundable up to a month in advance, anyone should be able to fill a hole that's four weeks out. We can pull patients up. We can ask patients to move and move into a sooner date. Or you should have consultations that are scheduled that we can lead and direct into placing them ⁓ into that opening that we now have. So yes, we want to protect the practice.

protect our investment of time and securing that date for a patient, but also we need to understand patients, they're more likely to take action when they feel a little bit more comfortable with it and know that they have a little bit of a safety net.

Alli

Yeah, absolutely.

Andrea
Okay, so pre-consult call done. Boom, cool. Now we're moving on to what is that in-person ⁓ experience looking like? So patient walks into the practice, actually reverse that just one moment, Call is done. What do you do 24 to 72 hours prior to the patient walking in the door?

Alli (35:04)
You want to make sure you have everything that you need from them in terms of paperwork and then just a little check in, like even if it's just a quick text. So just like, I'm so excited to meet you and reminding them of, you know, what's going to happen and reminding them what they need to bring with them and seeing if they have any questions that have popped up before then or if anything's changed. literally just a quick little check in. It might take you two seconds depending on who the patient is. If it is somebody that's like really great with texting and they've

told you that they like to text, you could just be like, hey, I'm so excited to meet you. Make sure blah, blah, blah. Any questions? No? OK, great. Or if it's somebody who needs a little bit more hand holding, just a quick phone call. So just a little check in just to remind them that.

who you are because they'll forget, you know, even though you had a stellar call with them, they're probably going to be like, I don't know who I talked to. Yeah, it was me. So just remind them. That's just me. I'm your best friend. again. I always tell them that too when I go back in the console, I'm like, Ali, remember I tucked your ear off on the phone and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, Here she is.

Andrea (36:06)
Here's Alli.

In all honesty, this is such a vulnerable experience for our patients too. And it's not as faux pas or anything like it may have been 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years ago. But we're asking people to open up and share and stand naked in front of us and our doctors when maybe they've never done that before. And so having that friendly just person, they're like,

Most of the time they're like, my gosh, of course I know you. I literally talk to you about things that I've never talked to anybody about because again, at the beginning of that call, you asked them those leading questions so that you could develop that relationship. I mean, it's going to be a rare time when you welcome someone back to an in-person consultation and they don't say, my gosh, it's so good to meet you in person and they already feel like they're connected to you.

Alli (36:58)
Yeah, and I think as PCC's, it's kind of a universal experience. We've all stepped in those consultations where the doctor's asking them questions and they're looking at us and like answering like they're just like they'll be like, you know, so what are your goals? And the patient looks at us and just like talks to us. And, you know, that's good because you built that comfortability with them. And when they're looking at you, they know that they can share and they know that you're kind of their little buddy there and you're kind of just like, yeah, we talked about this. Remember, say this. Yeah, space. Yeah, and that's good.

Andrea (37:28)
And again, in the patient experience and in the mindset and spirit of service, when we get to be their safe space, like you're quite literally walking them through something that's going to change their life and they get to feel that with you. So I just think it's such an honor. So during that call as well, we make sure that they have their new patient paperwork done and if they've talked about financing, their financing approval, and if not, we poke them.

Alli (37:28)
Mm-hmm.

Andrea (37:57)
Yes. Say, hey, don't forget, here's the link. Make sure you apply for this. It's going to make your experience way more beneficial once you actually come in and meet with me in the practice because I can help you with X, Y, and Z.

Alli (38:07)
Thank goodness, patient fi sends you an email when someone's been approved. you can I, me and Sarah is amazing at our practice of every single patient fi approval that comes through. She'll go straight into the EMR and put a top communication note that they got approved for XML. So really quickly when I'm going to check in with them, I've either seen the email or Sarah's put a communication in that she's seen the email that they've been approved. So you can.

ping them again and just like, I haven't seen your approval come through. Remember I see that. So I let patients know that because they're like, well, should I call you when I get approved? And I'll be like, yeah, do it. And I'll also get a note from that. So I let them know, like I'll get a notification from them that you've been approved. So, ⁓ yeah, you'll know.

Andrea (38:48)
Yeah, we always put our notes in lead loop and we're actually just developing so patient five, they'll send you an email. And so now we're getting the emails directly loaded into the patient record in, ⁓ in lead loop, which is, you know, our patient management system that I use with my clients so that we know automatically this is what's happening. This is what they've been approved for. So that everything, the more that we can put all the patient information that's applicable into one spot.

Obviously, it's going to make it easier for you as a PCC also just to have all that information there. Okay, awesome. So we're having a call. We're following up a day to before. So if your consults are on Tuesday, you're following up either Friday or early Monday if you didn't do it on Friday, ⁓ but really Friday, Thursday in advance of the following week's appointment. Always block some time out for yourself to always, always, always touch base prior to the patient coming in.

because we, ⁓ again, it's just a nice little touch point for the relationship, another service point, and an opportunity that we can continue developing that relationship with the patient. While, of course, we're making sure that they're ready and prepared to do the things that we need to do during consult. So, consult day, patient walks in the door, ⁓ walk me through it, patient's sitting there in the lobby.

Maybe they've got a little glass of water. They've got a nice, um, cup of coffee from your coffee station and what then.

Alli (40:23)
Yeah, it's going to be so different practice to practice. I've seen consultations done so many different ways. ⁓ And I think for a really long time, I thought that there was only one way to do it and it should be like handled 100 % by the PCC. But I've definitely opened my mind lately with seeing like success with other formats.

⁓ So no matter who takes the patient back and triages them and goes through their like medical history with them, if you're not able as the PCC to be that individual that's doing that with them, you at least need to step in at some point and just be like, like, Hey, Alexis, it's so good to see you. It's I'm Alli. Remember we talked on the phone. So I just like pop in at some point and just say hello. So they know like, ⁓ that's my girl. She's here. She's going to be part of this whole journey. So ⁓

Whoever needs to triage the patient to make your practice flow. I've opened my mind to it being okay for anyone. Wow. That first little chunk. We're old dogs new tricks. This is incredible. I think that first chunk should be, you

Obviously, we've already ruled out if there's a big disqualifying factor. But ⁓ if it's a nurse that goes in or whoever goes in first is just doubling down on the clinical information that we shared and completing the H &P, make sure they're qualified. ⁓ My recommendation here is to reaffirm any education. Talk about incisions again. Talk about recovery again. Kind of a repeat of the first call if you can. ⁓ From there.

Andrea (42:01)
that you've seen it be successful to have a nurse or a clinician do this?

Alli (42:05)
I have ⁓ when your nurse or clinician is highly trained. ⁓ I think that this could be ⁓ a liability to your consultation if your nurse isn't trained on how to field questions well. I've seen it done poorly.

⁓ The patient has a lot of questions. They're gonna come in hot with the questions because they've prepared the questions just like you asked them to. ⁓ So I've seen patients come in and ask questions that a nurse is just not really like trained to handle as gingerly. They're very clinical and they're gonna answer it how they've been trained to answer it, which is very straightforward. They're very confident in what they know. They know how to clinically answer the question. ⁓ So I've seen... ⁓

an example, I did see a patient come in and they were taken back in triage by a nurse and the patient was like petrified of anesthesia. She's like, I'm just so scared of anesthesia. I'm so nervous. And the nurse was just like, yeah, you're going to be out. You're going to be fully asleep. And she was being transparent. I remember you telling me about this. I was like. Yeah, she's being transparent with the information that she knew.

That is just, you know, that's what she knows. ⁓ But this is good to have a PCC in there, a trained sales professional, honestly, to be able to gingerly hold that patient's hand right there. my gosh, I used to be terrified of anesthesia as well, but talk about who's doing their anesthesia. Talk about how many surgeries they've done with Dr. Smith.

you know, there's this team, call them by their name and then tell them everything they're going to do. They're going to call you the night before. So you're going to hear their voice. They're going to be one of the first people you meet when you get here on the day of surgery. They do nothing but sit above your head the entire time. And they're right there when you wake up as well. Just give them that little information. A nurse usually isn't trained to answer a question like that. And you know,

Andrea (44:06)
You'll be out.

Alli (44:09)
And nothing on her. Like she's just answering it very honestly and she's not gatekeeping anything from the patient. ⁓ But as a patient, that's not what you want to hear right then. You're getting more nervous before you meet the surgeon at that point. So you want somebody who's going to be able to hold their hand through it. So best case scenario is that the PCC is doing this. But I understand in some practices, that's not ⁓ always possible. So if you do have to make that shift and have somebody else doing that beginning part, just make sure that they're trained to answer those questions appropriately. Now here is where I would say it's absolutely required that the PCC enters the consultation at this point. So if somebody else came and gathered a little bit of medical history, okay, this is now handed over to the PCC and the surgeon. ⁓ The PCC needs to be present for the doctor portion of

the consultation, I think, you 100 % of the time. ⁓ If you're not as a PCC in the room for the conversation with the doctor, it is very hard in that quote presentation afterward to be able to build the value and to connect with the patient because there's just if the if it's surgical plan just comes out to you and you just put that together and you go in and talk to them for the first time at the end of the consultation, what do you do it? know, you're just

presenting a piece of paper to them and asking them if they want to book a surgery. You need to be like, when you bring in that quote at the end, you need to be like, ⁓ is the mastopexy is a fancy word for breast lift, which remember, we need that because blah, blah, whatever the surgeon said. ⁓ This galaflex, that's the internal bra that we're going to use. Remember, he said that the blah, blah, like reiterate things that he had said. So patient, doctor, and PCC goes in for the exam. You get everything you need. ⁓

pop out, PCC will put together the quote and then go back in and do the quote presentation and the booking process. So, in summary, that's what the consultation looks like?

Andrea (46:07)
Perfect. So is there, I mean, we could have another whole episode about this, which is the doctor portion and how we properly prepare the doctor to come in and speak with the patient. ⁓ because the doctor can make or break everything that you're doing as well. You know, I mean, the time that you've spent on the phone, the time that you've ideally spent with them before meeting with the doctor and then the doctor coming in, I think the things that I most often hear from the gales that I work with is,

Yeah, the doctor's like so clinical that it like it almost is a buzzkill or the doctor gives them so many options that then they're confused and we know that confused patients don't book or the doctor comes in and then all of a sudden the patient starts talking about a facelift when we're here to talk about a mommy makeover. And so I mean, what are the

recommendations that you can make because before the PCC and the doctor go back in to do the physical examination, there should be a 37 second, whatever you want to call it, little pep talk for the doctor of who the patient is, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. What are your recommendations? Like how do you prepare your docs before they come in after you've spoken with the patient?

Alli (47:25)
That's such a good question because I think that that's probably one of the number one things that can go wrong in a consultation is what I've seen is your doctor giving too many options. The patient gets extremely confused. They're having other consultations as well. They're talking with other surgeons that are also giving them alternative options. So now they've got 15 options. ⁓ kind of the way that we've solved that is ⁓ I tell them directly the surgical plan that the patient and I estimated based on their

goals on our phone call. This is exactly what we talked about. These are the pieces. So do know, I always remind them, do know if you are going to recommend something else. Obviously they are the expert. They are allowed to recommend whatever they want. You don't get to tell them what to recommend, but do know if you've got to recommend something else. Make sure you communicate with that to them why we're changing, you know, what we had suspected we were going to talk about. I also think that it's very common with like

younger or newer surgeons to make several recommendations because what I've seen is they're fearful of making the decision for the patient. ⁓ So I just had a little kind of role playing consultation with a surgeon ⁓ last week because this was happening a lot. There were too many implant recommendations being given out. There were too many just surgical approaches being given out and not a lot of directiveness. ⁓

Patients want you as the surgeon to tell them what to do.

Andrea (48:57)
I literally just had this conversation with a newer surgeon. was at an on-site in Houston last week, two weeks ago, and ⁓ there's a younger surgeon. She's actually just about to get her boards. And she was so lovely. She came to me as I was leaving after working with her team for two days. And she said, is there anything like as a new surgeon that you would tell me?

to do in consultation. And the two things that I told her, this was one of them. We'll get to the other one later, ⁓ exactly is they come to you as the expert and they want you to tell them this is how we reach your goals. The options and giving them three, four different things of what you could do, that's helping no one because it's just confusing them. Sorry to interrupt you, but it's just so funny that you say this because I too just had this conversation.

⁓ with a younger surgeon last week or whatever.

Alli (49:52)
Yeah, so same last week as well. I was just observing again and again that the biggest thing we were having with the surgeon was the patient would call back and I'm just confused. I want to change the implant. Do you really think I need this? Do I not need that? What does he think?

Andrea (49:56)
Met mercury in the microwave?

Alli (50:13)
⁓ because this particular surgeon is amazing at educating and covering every single base. So he would share all the information and then turn it around to the patient. So what do you think? This is Galaflex. I don't think you need it. What do you think? So we just sat down and we did a little role play consultation and I would just kind of pause. I'm like, that was amazing how you just presented that, but wrap that up with,

for you, would recommend X. So not like these are all my different types of implants. What do you think?

Andrea (50:47)
Which hammer do you want to use? There's 17. Like that doesn't help somebody.

Alli (50:52)
Yeah, yes, you can give history on all the options like, you know, these are the implants that we offer here. This is a little about this. This is a little about this. This is a little about this based on the goals that you've presented to me and the anatomy that I've ⁓ examined here. This would be my recommendation for you. Now you can choose anything else, but this is my recommendation. What are your thoughts on that? ⁓ I think that they are kind of scared sometimes, especially in that board collection season of making.

decision for the patient and then it coming back on them at the end, you're not making the decision for the patient. You're making a recommendation based on their goals and they get to make the decision for themselves. And the same thing comes to the implant sizing to newer surgeons pick up something at least 50 CCs apart. I see a lot of like 10 CCs apart or 25 CCs apart and then like eight implant options offered and I'm like,

As a patient, I would also crash out because they don't know the differences. then as a PCC, you sit down with them and you're like, anything less than 50 cc is not noticeable to the naked eye or the untrained eye. So you've got to explain that to them. But they get caught up in those numbers because they don't know any better. So ⁓ slim down how many recommendations you're giving them ⁓ and be

Directive, be the leader, tell them this is what I recommend. Now, if they want to choose something else, they absolutely can, but this is my recommendation is what I would say is the most important part of the doctor consult.

Andrea (52:25)
Yes, 100%. And without that and without that confidence and assurance that based on your goals and your anatomy, we can help you get to where you want to go. And here's my plan on how we're going to do that. Without that confidence, why would a patient choose you? Like they're coming to you for your expert opinion. So those are the things that happen in the room. You're in there as the PCC during the doctor part, then what happens?

Alli (52:46)
agreed.

⁓ Once the recommendation is done, all the questions have been answered, you're going to step out and just say, right. Obviously, the doctor is the one with the microphone. You don't want to be talking during the doctor consultation. You just are there to notate. ⁓ When you step out, that's the one time I'll chime in and say something. Doc will walk out of the room. I'll let him walk out and I'll just be like,

All right, Gal, you can go ahead and put your normal clothes back on. Give me about five minutes. I'm going to go put together the itemized quote based on everything that we talked about, and I'll be right back in for you. So tell them what's about to happen next. Tell them that they can get comfy and they don't have to be naked anymore. then go. body. Yeah.

Andrea (53:36)
Scroll on your phone do whatever you want to do. Yeah, go.

Alli (53:39)
Yeah. ⁓ pop out, check in with your surgeon. Like, yes, you should have gotten everything that they said, but just double check. This is what I got. And this is how many hours I think it's going to take you. Good. Yep. And he, he'll tell you if he needs to add anything, just to make sure you have a verbal check in with him before he goes into the next room. ⁓ put your quote together now.

put your quote together, but you're not just putting a quote together, printing it out and walking in the room. Like you've got to prepare yourself. Look back at your call notes. Look at the timeframe and the dates that they were looking at. Look if they're paying cash or if they're financing it. You need to be able to speak to these things as you're presenting it to them. ⁓ So as you're pointing to numbers on the quotes, this is what you can put on patient fi. And again, you can put it the payment calculator and this is what your monthly payment is going to be. If you are going to still put this whole thing on patient fi. ⁓

So have a little like memory jog before you walk in there. And you also want to have you also want to be looking at what was estimated to them on the phone, what numbers you had given them on the phone so that when you go in there, if it is not completely the same, you can let them know. Or if it is in range, you can be like, it's exactly double down. I'll be like, it's exactly what we talked about on the phone. No surprises here. ⁓ So that they know they feel comfortable and they're like, OK, I trust these people. They know what they're talking about.

When you go back in the room, you don't want to just be like, all right, here's the quote. Let's take a look. Have some minutes where that's just kind of hidden for a sec. Like have it tucked away in a folder, have it facedown on the desk if you're bringing them into your office and just be like, okay, how are we feeling? Like, how do you feel about the consultation? How do you feel about Dr. Smith? Like you're girl to girl asking her this right now as if you weren't just here for the whole thing. Like, how do you feel about Dr.

blah, blah, blah. How do you feel about what he told you? And that will, you'll hear everything you need to know in that moment. Cause usually they'll be like, oh my gosh, I love him. He was great. He was very thorough. If you get a reaction that was like, oh, that was good. Ask more questions. Cause that's kind of concerning. They should be like really excited about what just happened. And if they're short about it, I'll be like, oh, just like, you know.

What did you think about the recommendation? What did you think about when he said blah, blah, blah, whatever it is? ⁓ Get a firm understanding of how they're feeling about it. And usually, more often than not, I said, 99.999 % of the time they say, my god, he was so thorough, he was so great, he has such great bedside manner. I'm like, isn't he amazing? He really does take his time to make sure he covers all the bases. I feel like there's nothing that was left unsaid. ⁓

And then just, you know, see how they're filling in general. ⁓ then, okay, I have the itemized quote here and then go ahead and do your quote presentation.

Andrea (56:33)
So we walk back into, or we bring the patient in. Do you recommend this be in a separate space than the physical examination?

Alli (56:41)
I used to, but ⁓ we are here at the office. We don't have the capacity to work kind of tight. So I just go back in the same room and honestly, it doesn't make a difference. If you have the space to be able to do it in a seated desk setting that feels a little bit more official, that is more appropriate because it is a large quo. And so it needs to be that setting where they

you know, it feels a little bit more professional than sitting in an exam room. But if you don't have the capacity to be able to do that, I think it's still okay. So going into the quote presentation, I will always tell them what's gonna happen because the sheet is overwhelming and all they're gonna do is look straight at the numbers. So I'm gonna turn my.

you whatever around and I'm going to say, all right, I start at the top. I work my way down. You stop me. You interrupt me if you're confused at any point. ⁓ And then I just start reading. I would recommend going straight into surgical plan first and adding in again, little tidbits on what those pieces of the surgery are and what little things your doctor said about those things. So.

Again, mastopexy, fancy word for breast lift. Like you mentioned, you need this because of the nipple position to kind of reposition things on top of the implant that we're going to place. So just little things like that to make it more engaging instead of just... Like you want to make it more engaging. That will be $40,000. Yeah. This is the price point that it comes to depending if you have like cash discounted rate or...

you know, lot of practices are doing a cash discounted rate in. ⁓

like in comparison with like a payment plan or something like that, that being the standard pricing. ⁓ So all ahead of time highlight which number pertains to them based on what we talked about. So again, it's another little reiteration of I'm locked in with you. We have this relationship going. So when we talked on the phone, you mentioned you're planning on paying cash for this. So this is the number you're going to be focused on. So this is the standard pricing for the surgery, but you do get a cash discounted rate. So this is the number that you're looking at here. ⁓ Just a reminder, again, like we talked about,

on the phone, you want it. I keep saying that so that they know, like they remember, okay, yes, she did prepare me for this. Like, yes, I remember. So this is inclusive of everything that we can account for. list all those things off.

If there's anything that you guys don't account for, I would recommend writing it right on your quote, like the template. So right underneath my pricing, I have a few sentences that says ⁓ the only things that would be additional would be your preoperative clearances if we need any and list what those would be as well as any prescriptions you'll pick up from the pharmacy. But usually your insurance will help with that. Do you have insurance? So just like camp out there for a second. So yeah, aside from those items, we account for everything that we can in this number here.

And then I go straight into, don't ask them, what do you think about that number? I go straight into how are you gonna secure a date? ⁓ So the next clause down on my quote is gonna talk about the deposit. ⁓ Like we talked about on the phone, this 20 % deposit is not only gonna lock in your surgery date, but it's gonna lock in this price where it's at. Everyone has different policies there. ⁓ I feel like that's not something we should really dive into.

Right now we have another episode on that. So just say what the deposit would be for them to lock in. And then I just say, okay, I'm going to pause here. Any questions on this piece so far?

Nope, don't, I usually they do not have questions at that point because you've been very thorough. But if they do just pause their camp out there. And I say, before I ask that question, I'll say, okay, I have one more sheet to go through with you. But before we go to that one, any other, any questions on this piece? No, okay, grab their signature on the quote. And then here's your copy of that, tuck that one away. Now you're gonna go into your surgical financial agreement. ⁓

Summarize so you should have this every time you present a quote. You should never present just a loose leaf quote. You need to present your quote and your surgical financial agreement all at the same time. Surgical financial agreement should outline what that deposit is, if it's refundable or not, what your cancellation policy is, what your rescheduling policy is, what your revision policy is. I have a clause in there always about nicotine and drug testing. ⁓ So if anyone has lied to you or withheld truth from you, this is the moment it will come out. ⁓ It's actually happened at the practice I'm at currently. They didn't have this policy in place. And I created the financial agreement and I had that nicotine clause on there. And we had a patient that had been dishonest with us about nicotine usage. She was trying to schedule a quick turnaround.

We had gotten all the way up to this point. And when they realized that lying about the nicotine is tied to their financials and that they will lose money for lying to us about that, that's when the truth comes out. So it did not come out until that moment. I said, just a warning, we do nicotine and drug tests. Every single patient at pre-op and day of surgery, if ever that came back as positive, you do lose the funds that you've paid for surgery and you run into additional fees. So yeah.

And I usually say to them before I say that, like, this doesn't pertain to you, but, and then it gives them the opportunity to be like, well, wait, how long do I have to be clean again? you know, so just let them know. Cause that would suck if they showed up on the day of surgery and it's like, surprise. Like let them know that that's what they're getting into before they sign anything. there any other like main pieces on like that financial agreement that you would say are super important to present at the time of the quote?

Andrea (1:02:28)
Definitely just any cancellation and refund policy ⁓ that you have, what that would look like in the timeframes. Everybody is going to be a little bit different. We don't have to get into what is best right now, but just make sure every single thing is outlined so that, again, this is about service that will lead to scheduled procedures that stick and that complete. It's not about trying to get people to sign up because they feel pressured and that blah, blah, blah.

not really being full and honest about everything. And it's also about protecting your practice and protecting your surgeon's time. So we get to be the deliverer of that information. ⁓ And then you also really need to be the person that's helping to ensure and establish those rules to make sure that your practice is protected.

Alli (1:03:16)
I think it's just a tasteful way as well to get the numbers out of their face right away. We just presented a really big number, so let's not spew on that and stare at that because like we said earlier, you don't want to just drop a quote and be like, how do you feel? We want to go into the next piece You bring your credit card. Yeah. Okay. Then I have them sign that.

they're signing that all wheel back to my laptop, my computer, whatever it is. And that's when I'll talk about timeframe. So it'll be like, when we talked on the phone, you were looking at October 15th. I do still have that open. Does that still feel good? Or have you guys looked at different dates? And then they'll usually be like, ⁓ they pull out their calendar from there. It's, know, the rest of the process is seamless. So, ⁓ you want to make the rest of the process as quick and easy for them as possible. So I'll usually just have like a spot.

set up, a, I'll have like a little sticky note that I bring in with me basically with like three dates that we talked about, or if they can't take those, I'm proposing to them, I'll circle it and I'll say, okay, we've got a card on file that ends in blah, blah, blah, blah. Is that what you want me to run the 20 % on? Yes. Okay. Run it through. All right, we're done. So now you're verbally just telling them next steps.

⁓ so go through secure a date, and then tell them, all right, as a next step, know, my next, we're going to see you back for that pre-op appointment, or you're going to get a call from the nurses. However you guys do things. ⁓ what other questions can I answer? ⁓ and then that's literally it. The end of the consult is like really, really fast, seamless, easy. If you did all that work on the front end.

Andrea (1:04:56)
Right, exactly. It's so funny how so many practices do this whole process so differently and how so many people need help. ⁓ I remember doing an on-site with a client, it's probably been three years ago now, and the way their process was scheduled was basically the front desk would schedule a consultation and take a fee, and then the patient would show up. So the patient experiences call

schedule, transaction, transaction. I give you money, you give me time to ⁓ meet with your surgeon. And then after that, patient experience. Walk in the door, okay, great. Medical person, nurse, gets patient from the lobby, takes them back to the room, asks them a bunch of medical questions, but doesn't really do anything other than like, are you a candidate for surgery?

⁓ patient experience, then doctor comes in, doctor spends 45 minutes to an hour re-singing a song ⁓ of all of the things. So it's all new information to the patient when they meet with doctor. And then this was my, of all of these things that are suboptimal, ⁓ my least favorite part was then they leave examination room and they will quite literally are taken by a person that they'd never met before.

down this long hall that gets darker and darker, the longer, this is my like, she did what? Like this is really an experience for patients. So the hallway, just because it's lobby and then long hallway, there's some exam rooms and some offices in the back, goes down this long hallway to a little office that's no bigger than my office maybe that I'm in now ⁓ and sits at a desk with dim-ish lighting.

not bright, not lively with a person that they've never met before to get a quote for their procedure. And when I experienced this and walked through it, was like, how do you, I mean, and their conversion rates are about 30 % to no surprise, because that's not an experience that we're like what we're talking about today, where we're really leaning into the service that we can provide and how we actually really do.

develop the relationships, the trust, build the rapport, educate the patient, and actually prepare them to take next steps. ⁓ whatever you do, don't have someone brand new delivering a quote to a person down a long, dungy, dark hallway.

Alli (1:07:35)
Yeah, and I think that that just kind of speaks to like people are sometimes scared of the PCC role because they're like, it's a sales role. This was me in particular. Andrea knows. I was like, absolutely not. I'm not a sales professional because that format is extremely salesy that PCC's put in a position where that's how they're going to win is get salesy and use quick sales tactics to convert something really fast.

That's not what we're doing. We're partnering with patients on their journey. You are their cheerleader. You are their buddy. And when you do it this way, it's not sales. It is educational. Yes, it's service. And it's very high-end concierge service. ⁓ if you're getting in this place where you're like, feel salesy, feel a little... Well, okay, then you need to get involved in the patient journey a little bit earlier on because it should not feel like that.

Andrea (1:08:30)
Absolutely. So when it comes to just kind of setting up your day to day as a PCC, we know our days are going to be different based upon where our surgeon is. Because of our surgeons in surgery, we have more time to be on the phone. We have more time to follow up with patients. We have more time to do administrative tasks. But what does your typical day kind of look like if we're looking at day with surgeon in consults versus day out ⁓ out of consults with surgeons? How does that look for you?

Alli (1:08:58)
Yeah, consult day, you are on your feet and in rooms all day long. it is going to be, that's one of the things that like front office knows is like, I'm not available to take a call on a consult day. I'm back to back all day. You're going to have to send me a note. I'll get back to these patients usually after 5pm. So you should just be

connecting with and hand in hand with your surgeon really all day long. You guys should be very fluid on everyone that we're seeing everything that's coming in the door, ⁓ everything that we just talked about. So ⁓ you and your surgeon are just like kind of partners and brother and sister everywhere you go that day.

Andrea (1:09:38)
Yes, attached at the hip? Are you wearing one of those hug t-shirts?

Alli (1:09:41)
Exactly. It's like wherever Ali is, that's where Dr. Camp is. That's how it should be. And then when he's in the OR, you should be on the phone all day long. So whether it is with new patients calling in or it's following up, follow-up cadences. You kind of asked earlier if I follow up with those people that I've had consult calls with. To be honest with you, that's like the lowest end of my totem pole of

follow-up priorities. ⁓ My number one priority is those hot leads that just came in, getting them connected with us ASAP. My second priority behind that is anyone who didn't book surgery at the time of the consultation or still hasn't since then. ⁓ When I first started at the office that I'm at now, I was spending a lot of time on following up on past consults because they're just...

wasn't a high conversion rate, so there was a lot of people to follow up with. That pool was pretty big. Now that we've transitioned, I barely spend any time. It's maybe 10 minutes of my week because there's just nobody to follow up with anymore. Those people do have my direct line, so we're usually texting all the time, just answering little

questions and getting their scheduling put together. And then if I haven't texted them in like a day or two, I'll give them a call and just be like, Hey, I haven't heard from you. are you? Yeah. Pinging them and just, ⁓ you know, checking have an eye on all of your consults. I follow up with my consults a minimum of three times afterwards. So three touch points. ⁓ I don't really believe that there's a strict timeframe of when you need to hit those ones, but I guess.

Andrea (1:11:17)
It depends on the situation. You've learned so much and already spent so much time on the phone and in person with those consults that to have like a timed cadence, I think is ridiculous. mean, the next day always, it was so great to meet you. I'm here to help you through your journey. And then after that, it's definitely patient dependent. to your point, the better that you get at this upfront process and diving in deeper sooner, the less you have to do this whole part.

portion of your job. Like you're quite literally saving yourself so much time on the back end because you don't have to follow up with a bunch of people because you're actually, you're helping them to take action in a more ⁓ expeditious manner for sure.

Alli (1:12:01)
Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ And then, yeah, behind that would be people that you had a consult call with and they said they're going to apply for financing and you haven't heard from yet. ⁓ Like I said, that's lowest priority because you gave someone so much information and you spent a lot of time with them on the phone. And if they're serious, they're probably going to do what they need to do and get back with you. But if your schedule is dead, those are great people. You already spent so much time on with them. So it's easy to just send a quick follow up and check in with them. ⁓

But yeah, if you're super, super busy and you're super, super slammed, that's one that I feel like sometimes can be missed because you did your due diligence and did the full call with them already. ⁓

So yes, those days where Doc is in the OR, you're on the phone with either new patients or all those follow-ups that we just went through. Also just like kind of checking like numbers, making sure that everything's where it should be, checking the schedule. ⁓ I always make sure that there's no holes that have opened up that I need to fill and just getting an idea of like how far out we are booked right now. ⁓ So just, or like following up with people that you presented a revision quote to and haven't booked their revision. So.

There should, you should never run out of things to do as a PCC. Like the problem should really be, I finish everything in a day? But there is always gonna be someone to follow up with whenever a PCC tells me like, I'm bored, I have nothing to do. And I'm like, here's a list that I can give you right now of 20 things that you should be doing. So there is always someone to follow up with and you just gotta, everyone that you've talked to or every name that you've seen, you should probably follow up with them for some reason. Like, check it.

Andrea (1:13:39)
When it comes to those new patient inquiries that you said are obviously highest priority when it comes to phone calls, is there any prequalification that happens before they talk to you or before they get to you?

Alli (1:13:52)
I think it's situational. I think it's best handled by a PCC or maybe a PCC assistant role to be contacting the new leads and following up with them. ⁓ But if your practice is very high volume and your PCC is very busy, think transitioning some of that initial pre-qualification to the front office or to a different type of admin role can work. I think just mainly screening for like

high BMI's. ⁓ So if it's a super high like an over, know, say your your practice is BMI requirement is 30 and you have like 36, 37, 38 BMI's calling in. That is something that your front office should be trained to be able to have that conversation so that you know the PCC isn't taking.

those all day, like everyone should be able to handle that conversation gingerly, ⁓ especially if you have a non-surgical or a wellness side of your practice that's able to help with those things. So a lot of practices do have that now. ⁓ So it is just a matter of not that we can't serve this patient, but I, as the PCC, the surgical PCC can't serve this patient. So whoever, you know, takes this call should find out, should this be going to Alli?

or should this be going to our wellness side of our clinic? So ⁓ I think that that's a piece that could be handled at the front desk, but most of it, I mean, it's something that as a PCC, that's part of your job. It's just like Andrea always says, like you're literally mining for gold. So you're gonna get a lot of unqualified people that you talk to and that's okay. And that's part of it. And it's being able to handle those conversations in a way of like, you could professionally tell them why they're not qualified right now, what their steps are to become qualified.

Andrea (1:15:33)
So say you're listening today, you're a PCC, and you have all of this other chaos going around you, which we know working in an aesthetics practice can be chaotic. So your day just does not have the structure or you don't have the ability, time, space, whatever, to have these longer conversations with potential patients. Like, what would be your guidance or what would be your recommendation to them so that they can...

talk to their leaders or they can talk to whoever they need to to protect their time to have these conversations.

Alli (1:16:06)
Yeah, that's definitely a leadership conversation ASAP. ⁓ If you don't feel like you are, you know, provided all the resources to be able to do this, then you can't do your job well. ⁓ So that needs to be brought to your leadership right away. And just, you know, I think that we are lacking the ability to be able to connect with patients earlier on. I want to be able to do this, this, this. And right now I can't do that because of this.

piece and so my proposal is that we make this adjustment. So don't just go in there and be like, I can't do that. I don't have the space to able to do that. Like, you know, just go in there and say, this is what I think we should be doing. This is why I can't do it right now. This is my recommendation on how we fix that. So just brainstorm and present to them. And most practice leaders will be like, heck yeah, if it's going to get our conversion rate and it's going to.

up and it's going to enable our PCC's to be able to perform better, I'm all for it. ⁓ As, mean, Andrea can definitely speak to this a little bit more as a practice leader. It should be a priority to ⁓ protect your PCC's time. That is so, so important. And I'll let Andrea go into it. Yeah, I'm going to let Andrea go into it because she was so good at doing this when we were in practice together.

Andrea (1:17:23)
Yeah, I number one, I say it a million times is protect your PCC's time. Ideally, every PCC is probably handling 120 to 150 leads ⁓ monthly and those roll into the next month, of course, ⁓ over and over and over again. So protecting patient care coordinators time to actually perfect and refine this process. will even hire two other people.

to take away the other duties that PCCs should not be doing. Their job is to be on the phone or their job is to be in person ⁓ in in-person consultations with patients. It's not to manage the clinic. It's not to manage pre-ops. It's not to schedule anesthesia for cases that are in. Yeah, not to order supplies for the OR, not to inject. Like there's so many people that consider this

Alli (1:18:10)
And not to order implants.

Andrea (1:18:20)
⁓ consultation PCC role as, this is one of the things they do. Absolutely not. You're never going to have the success that you could have unless you have someone that is dedicated and devoted to the patient intake and consultation process from the first touch through the booking of, through the scheduling of the procedure. And then as soon as that procedure is scheduled, my buxom lip gloss is a baton and you hand this thing off to somebody else.

I mean, that PCC should not be doing all of the things after the patient is scheduled for their procedure. It's time for them to get back on the phone with the new people that are calling and the new people that are filling out forms or follow up with the people that we haven't yet connected with or maybe had a consult and they didn't schedule their procedure. At the beginning, we kind of teased a little one thing. So Ali, there's so many things, in all honesty.

I kind of feel like we shouldn't give this episode away and just post it out there for anybody who has access to the internet that they can just hop on this because there's millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars worth of training and advice that people can take away from this, which is mind blowing to me. But I also think in the act of service and in the spirit of abundance.

that I think it's great to share this information. There are more than enough patients. There are more than enough surgeons out there that, you know, this information can only help people help people. And that's truly what we do as PCC is and working in this as we help all types of people from all walks of life live better lives by walking them through this process. So.

If we had to boil it down to one thing, I don't even think that this is possible to be. What do you think is like the most important thing that PCC's or surgical coordinators, whatever we want to call ourselves, that they don't typically consider?

Alli (1:20:14)
Hey

Get involved sooner. I think that that's the biggest thing is most PCCs get involved ⁓ a little bit too late. And then that's when the challenges arise. You should be their first point of contact and you should be holding their hand all the way through. So I think that was kind of the first thing we talked about was where people kind of mess up sometimes or where there's a misstep. And I would just say it's getting involved too late. So get involved sooner and do as much education and be as helpful on the front end as possible. And it makes the backend so much easier.

Andrea (1:20:55)
Well, thank you again, Alli, so much for joining us, giving us so much secret sauce. I know that this is going to be really valuable to everybody listening in and to all of you listening. Join us next Tuesday ⁓ for a lot more great information on how we can make your jobs better, have better service for patients, and get better outcomes through our consultation and intake process with our patients.

Blake (1:21:21)
Got a wild customer service story or 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 (1:21:32)
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.