Appt Booking Strategy
The Forever Booked appointment booking strategy is very simple:
1. Leads are generated through a number of different sources, including META ads, SMS campaigns, your website, and the Referral Rocket System. At this point, we consider them “Cold Leads”.
2. The AI Concierge texts the leads, follows up, and turns them into HOT leads.
3. YOU contact Hot Leads as soon as possible (ideally within 5 minutes), to book the appointment. If you want to get better results, you can contact Cold Leads as well.
Cold Leads vs HOT Leads
Cold Leads are people who have indicated interest in your services, such as filling out a website form or responding to an ad.
Hot Leads are people who have texted back the AI Concierge saying they want to book an appointment. See below:
Sometimes all it takes is a few messages like the example above. Sometimes the prospect has many questions/concerns and 20 or more messages will be exchanged before they become a Hot Lead.
Contact Hot AND Cold Leads For Best Results
To get the best possible results, you should contact Cold Leads AND Hot Leads as soon as they come in (ideally within 5 minutes).
However, we know that some clinics do not have the bandwidth to call all Cold Leads immediately, especially if there is a high volume of leads coming in.
This is why you have the option to contact Hot Leads only. This takes less work but will result in fewer appointments.
Lead Notifications
You will get an email notification whenever a Cold Lead becomes a Hot Lead. See below:
You can configure this notification to be sent through email and/or text to a single email/phone number or multiple.
If you also want to contact Cold Leads (recommended), you can receive notifications for all Cold Leads as well.
SPEED TO LEAD: The #1 Secret To Booking More Appointments
If you make one thing your sole priority in the program, it is to contact your leads within 5 minutes.
MIT did a study on this a few years ago…
Responding within five minutes is 21 times more effective than responding after 30 minutes.
Trust us on this one!
Watch this quick video if you want further proof of how important it is to contact leads immediately.
Don’t Call or Text. Do BOTH.
Many people never pick up their phones, but many do.
Some people like to text for everything. Some people still prefer a good old-fashioned phone call.
This is why our strategy utilizes both SMS and phone calls.
You always call the lead first, and then text them if they don’t pick up.
This will result in the highest number of booked appointments for you.
Why You MUST Collect A Deposit
We’ve seen it over and over again after working with hundreds of clinics:
If you don’t collect a credit card deposit, people will NOT show up.
It doesn’t matter how serious someone says they are about coming in. If they don’t have skin in the game (CC on file), they most likely will not show.
YOU Are The Prize.
New patients are lucky they get to visit you, not the other way around.
If you structure your offer right, you will offer an amazing deal valued at $300-$1000 for $100-$300.
You’re going to pamper these patients and make them feel like gold.
They will have been fortunate to have stumbled across your ad, have a chance to become your client.
You are also extremely busy (or will be very soon). For this reason, you shouldn’t accept people who can’t put down a simple CC deposit.
If someone isn’t willing to do that, that’s totally fine. No hard feelings. There is a line of people behind them who will be happy to do so.
This is the mindset you should have when asking for a credit card.
Stick To The Script
Collecting a credit card over the phone does not happen by chance.
There is a definite series of questions to be asked in the right order to book a patient with a credit card.
This is all included in the battle-tested phone script we provide. You can find the phone scripts HERE.
Use the script. It’s been tested in 100s of clinics and tweaked to get it perfect.
Customize it for your clinic, print it off, and then use it religiously.
If you don’t like the script, you can change it or create a new one.
Just make sure you’re using a script!
The only time you should “wing it” is when you’ve successfully used a proven script enough times that you know it by heart.
Booking Active VS Inactive Patients
With the Forever Booked system, you’ll be booking both new and existing patients.
Because of this, your approach must be adjusted depending on the type of person you are talking to.
Make sure before calling each lead, you look them up in your CRM to see patient history, if any.
This will help you tailor your approach. It will also prevent offending loyal patients who will expect the caller to know who they are.
Patient status will also determine whether you collect a deposit or not.
We recommend only collecting a deposit for new patients.
For existing patients say: “For this offer, we usually collect a deposit but since you’re such a wonderful loyal client of ours that will not be required.”
Existing patients will appreciate you for this.
NOTE: You may decide to implement a deposit for existing patients who have a history of no-showing.