Entrepreneurship

Doctor, You Have To Stop Doing Free Discovery Calls

Discovery calls are a waste of time. If you are a doctor with a private practice, you should NOT be doing discovery calls to enroll new patients. Specially not for free.

Jul 28, 2022

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    Discovery calls are a waste of time.

    You know the ones I’m talking about, where someone visits your website and books a call so YOU can explain your services. And hopefully deliver some health recommendations in the process. If you are a doctor with a private practice, you should NOT be doing discovery calls to enroll new patients. Specially not for free.

    So, how are you supposed to educate potential patients if you’re not doing discover calls?

    On your website!

    The reason patients are booking these calls is because they have some interest in your practice.

    But they also have tons of questions. Questions you’ve likely heard over and over again. You don’t need to get on the phone with them to answer these questions. Instead, set aside some time each day to create this content on your website.

    Slowly, you’ll build a content library where they are able to answer their own questions, making your calls a formality.

    I like to call then Enrollment Calls.

    What questions should your address?

    Before we dive into the actual questions, it’s important to emphasize the goal of this content is not to sell your services, but to answer the questions your potential patients have.

    Having said that, here are some of the most common questions (almost) every private practice should address:

    • Who is your ideal patient?
    • Who is not a good candidate for your practice?
    • How much can patients expect to spend? If you don’t have exact figures, give them ballpark figures.
    • What do they get with their membership?
    • How are you different? Here it’s important to emphasize, you must be different in areas that matter to your patients. Nobody cares where you went to school, you were top of your class, or have published x articles.

    Then you have all the specialty-specific question but these are the most important ones.

    What if they don’t read it?

    Here’s my favorite answer: you cancel the call.

    This is what Marcus Sheridan, author of “They Ask You Answer” refers to as assignment selling. And the principle is simple, if someone is not willing to invest a few minutes to educate themselves prior to your call, how much work do you think they’ll put in once they’re your patients?

    Marcus Sheridan on Assignment Selling

    But I’m not a writer

    Neither was I.

    But I learned and now can’t get enough of it. So much so I’ve written a daily essay (like this one) for more than 140 days straight, I’ve begun ghostwriting for doctors, started an email newsletter and basically put in 1500 words+ per day. And the positive results have been tremendous.

    I learned all of this in a cohort-based course called Ship 30 for 30.

    The next cohort is starting on August 8th and I’ve put together a group of doctors who will be going through it together, supporting one another.

    To join us, use this link and save $100 off your tuition.

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