After many successful years in private practice, Jerry Durham has made a business out of helping physical therapy practice owners to improve the client experience from start to finish. Much of this focus (and the resulting client experience strategies) stemmed from a year when he took over a thousand incoming prospective patient phone calls at his practice. And over time, he has identified some common mistakes that virtually every practice makes—mistakes that cost them business and lower the lifetime value of each customer. 

In this interview, Jerry explains his philosophy on enhancing client experience and some actionable steps any practice owner can immediately take to improve their business results. We do a deep dive into the initial patient phone call and the “do you take my insurance?” question. The insights he shares on building relationships that foster an environment of trust can help you get your cash-based practice on its way to happier customers and bigger profits!

More specifically, we discuss these client experience topics for a cash-based practice:

• An update on my practice since the COVID-19 shutdown, including how I was able to quickly replace two key employees in the midst of this chaos.
• How to solve the #1 problem a practice faces regarding client experience: that the person at the front desk does not understand their purpose in the business.
• The 3 steps you can apply to build relationships with your customers that will dramatically improve their perceptions of your practice
• Why training your staff to pass the “You vs. Me” test during a customer call will help your practice connect with patients and stand out from the competition.
• How you can use questions to validate the caller and guide the call so you will focus on the issues that actually matter to the customer.
• Understanding the exact question a patient has asked rather than assuming you know what they meant, so you can address their issue without creating confusion and raising new objections.
• Why a focus on selling results during the initial call will allow you to convert more often.
• How to answer, “Do you take my insurance?” in a surprising way that is honest, transparent, and will improve your sales.
• Jerry’s Patient Lifecycle tool that illustrates the primary touchpoints in a way that allows you to readily see how to ensure those are managed optimally so your patients will feel well cared for.
• How your processes can be organized so you consistently meet expectations without creating unnecessary frustration for your patients.
• Simple changes you can make in your initial and reminder calls, intake paperwork, and welcome visit that will completely transform your patient’s impressions of your practice.
• How you can orient your team in a way that creates a mindset that will help them fully understand the critical influence they each have on the overall patient experience.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• ClientExperienceCompany.com
• JerryDurhamPT.com
• Jerry Durham on Facebook 
• Jerry’s Patient Experience Focus Group on Facebook
• The Automated Talent Attraction and Hiring System

Interested in the cash-based private practice model? 

>> Click Here to learn how to start your own Cash-Based Practice <<

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[Click to Tweet link] Thanks Jerry Durham @Jerry_DurhamPT for all the online and in-person marketing tips on the Cash-Based Practice Podcast w/ @drjarodcarter ! https://drjarodcarter.com/124 #cashPT