A lot of practice owners don’t lose revenue because of ineffective marketing…
They lose revenue due to slow lead follow-up and weak conversions.
And sometimes I even come across those that don’t follow up with every lead because they/they’re staff think “we’re too busy” … THE HORROR!
In this week’s episode, you’ll hear a slightly different flavor of my coaching, and it applies to both fully Cash-Based practices AND In-Network practices trying to increase Private-Pay revenue.
The practice owner I’m coaching has a practice that is:
- Busy
- On a waitlist.
- Currently about 60% in-network pts, and 40% cash-pay pts
- Getting “more leads than we can handle” through his PatientSites website.
Squandering a clear path to making his cash-pay patient ratio higher than his in-network caseload …
Primarily because leads weren’t being followed up with immediately — and when they were, they weren’t being handled strategically to maximize conversions of those that would be higher-profit, self-pay patients.
Pre-PS: If you are still In-Network with any insurances and want to increase your Cash-Pay revenue (like this episode’s coaching client) — whether that involves dropping contracts or not — I have a 12-month program designed specifically to help you accomplish that, and we’re starting a new cohort in a few months.
If you’d like to add your name to the interest list and get more details, email me at jarod@drjarodcarter.com
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why “we’re too busy to follow up” is one of the most expensive beliefs in private practice
- The response-time benchmarks that every practice should place on lead follow up
- When it’s actually quite important for the practice owner to personally handle discovery/consult calls (temporarily)
- How to structure receptionist-to-clinician handoffs for higher Cash-Pay conversions
- Why generic business advice on Podcasts and YouTube often fails miserably when applied to your specific practice and situation
Busy Is Not the Same as Profitable
This practice was “busy.”
On a waitlist.
Overwhelmed.
But not with high-margin Cash-Pay patients.
And that distinction is everything.
If someone fills out a form on your website describing their pain, their goals, and their frustration, and they don’t hear from you quickly… you’re not just missing a booking, you’re sending a terrible signal that they don’t really matter to your business. And that signal can echo through your community and target market!
So please know that an incredibly important clock starts the moment a lead submits their inquiry to your practice…
Immediate outreach is ideal. (and the automated reply doesn’t count for this)
Within one hour is acceptable.
By the end of the day is mandatory.
The Temporary Strategy Most Owners Wouldn’t Expect
Normally, I do not recommend that practice owners personally handle discovery calls.
But in this situation?
It was exactly the right move.
The front desk wasn’t yet trained at converting leads into high-level Cash-Pay bookings.
The practice was partially in-network.
The goal was to strategically increase Cash-Pay revenue without big risk.
So instead of having the receptionist try to “sell” before they’re well trained to do so …
We changed the positioning.
The receptionist frames the next step like this:
“The next step in our process is a short call with [the practice owner] so he can ask the clinical questions I’m not qualified to answer. If [he/she] determines we can very likely help you [accomplish goals collected earlier in call], you’ll schedule your first visit.”
Now the well-trained, fully invested practice owner controls:
- The positioning.
- The value conversation.
- The conversion.
This was not a permanent fix for this practice owner, but it was a necessary strategy to stop the needless loss of high-profit cash-pay patients.
It was situational.
And that’s a bigger lesson today …
What’s needed for one practice may be completely wrong for another… if you’re trying to get all your guidance and making big decisions about your practice based only on podcasts, emails, and YouTube, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
Your Free Resource: Cash-Pay Phone Closing Scripts
If whoever is answering the phone at your clinic is not converting calls into cash-pay patients at a high level, this resource is for you: “Cash-Pay Practice Phone Closing Scripts”
It offers valuable guidance for clinicians who want to improve their consultation process and convert potential clients into paying patients — without feeling overly pushy or sales-driven.
Because this isn’t about being aggressive or using gimmicky persuasion scripts.
It’s about being clear.
It’s about leading the conversation.
It’s about confidently helping the right patients say “yes” to what will be most beneficial for them.
Inside, you’ll find practical, proven scripts that dramatically increase cash-pay bookings so qualified leads don’t fall through the cracks when they could’ve become great long-term customers.
Thanks so much for checking out this week’s podcast… hope you enjoy the resource!
The Final Word
Website inquiries are not passive.
They are strong signals of intent to work with your practice if your response is timely and correctly scripted.
If you respond fast and control the frame, they become high-profit patients.
If you delay or delegate without strategy, they become a missed opportunity – not just lost profit, but a missed chance to change someone’s life.
And this episode shows you exactly how to avoid that, even if your schedule is already “busy”.
— Jarod
WANT STEP-BY-STEP GUIDANCE TO START, GROW, OR TRANSITION YOUR OWN CASH-BASED PRACTICE?
>> Click Here to learn how to start, grow, or transition your own Cash-Based Practice <<
HERE ARE SOME MORE EPISODES ON LEAD CONVERSION & CASH-PAY GROWTH:
How We Convert 80% Of Our Leads Into Cash-Pay Patients (Regardless of their Insurance Status)A breakdown of the exact process we use to consistently turn inbound inquiries into paying patients—even when insurance is a factor.
How to Convert Phone Consultations into Cash-Pay Patients
The structure and scripting behind discovery calls that lead to high conversion rates and long-term patient commitment.
The Phone Call Strategy That Brings Past Patients Back
A simple but powerful follow-up strategy to reactivate previous patients and fill your schedule quickly.
MORE RESOURCES TO INCREASE CASH-PAY CONVERSIONS & REVENUE:
Cash-Based Practice Freedom e-Course 2.0
This course gives you every step, script, process, and resource I’ve used (and coached 1000+ practice owners through) to build highly profitable, insurance-free practices. It’s all laid out for you in a perfect step-by-step blueprint …Check out the Course here.
How to Answer “Do You Take My Insurance?”
This powerful system helps you master the initial patient phone call so you can help prospects make the best decisions about their healthcare, and maximize conversions of phone calls into cash-pay patients … even if the very first thing out of their mouth is, “Do you take Blue Cross?”. Check out the Masterclass here.
Cash-Based Practice Mastermind
If you want to double your profit per patient and build the practice of your dreams—without relying on greedy insurance companies—this Mastermind coaching program gets you there with: weekly live coaching, a supportive community, and a vault of done-for-you resources and masterclasses to accelerate your growth and avoid costly mistakes. Check out the Mastermind here.
