Great question Chris! In my opinion, and from tracking 1000’s of “price shopper” questions for clients all over the US, I recommend a strategy that should allow your team to convert 2/3 of these callers into appointments.
1. The first line of defense is that you try to NOT quote them any fees over the telephone. “Well Mr. X, we can’t really know for sure what the fee for that would be b/c we are not really sure that’s what you need or to what extent. Tell you what we can do, let’s schedule you to come in, and we’ll take a complimentary X-ray and it won’t cost you anything to talk with the Dr. about what your specific needs are. We’ll review all your options and relative fees so you know exactly what you are getting into before you do anything?” Then we attempt to set up the appointment. Believe or not, offering the free x-ray and exam gets them to schedule in about 1/3 of the cases. This is the ONLY time I offer a free x-ray and exam by the Dr. b/c for these people, price is an issue in their mind and their is no way of convincing them otherwise on the telephone. You don’t have enough time to do that.
2. For those patients that keep pressing your for a fee. “No seriously, how much is your extraction cost?” We offer these patients our “Starting At” price ONLY. So take your lowest cost option in the category of what they are asking about and give that to them. “Well, our extractions cost $75 and go up from there, depending on the type of tooth, difficulty in extraction, etc. To help, we can offer you an complimentary x-ray and exam by the Dr. so you’ll know what your specific options are and pricing.” Then we attempt to make them an appointment. The $75 in this case is our Pedo Tooth Extraction fee. Have you ever taken out a Pedo tooth on an Adult? I sure have. How does our team know what kind of tooth they need extracted or if they need it extracted at all? They don’t so let’s stop prejudging what we think the person needs and let’s get them in to find out. I’ve never had anyone complain when their extraction was $175 or a surgical one for $250 when we show them their x-ray, photos, etc and detail why this is the extraction type they need. You can do this with any category if you think about it. Use this approach and you’ll schedule another 1/3 of the callers. (2/3’s in total now).
3. The last 1/3 are not going to schedule no matter what you say or do. Their goal is to call 4-5 offices first and then make their decision. The good news here is that when they called your office, they got your “Starting At” price so when they call the other 3-4 offices and here their standard approach of throwing out 3 or 4 different fees, your office will sound better in contrast and many are likely to call and schedule back at your office. Provide them with great service, educate them on why the need what they need and you’ll have a patient for life.
I hope that answers your question. Ultimately it comes down to getting the data on why you are not scheduling your appointments. The truth for your office is in the data but if you’re not getting it then you don’t know what you don’t know. Good luck! If we can help, let us know.