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Leveraging Technology For Patient Acquisition and Lead Management

As the demand for cosmetic procedures grows each year, so does the number of patients searching for the right surgeon. While there are several practice management software programs available to the aesthetic physician, learning how to leverage new technologies to attract and consult with patients can lead to a more successful practice. In this interview with Aesthetic Insider, Atlanta-based plastic surgeon Dr. Christopher Killingsworth discusses how he has successfully integrated leading technologies and strategies designed by Red Spot Interactive into his plastic surgery practice. To learn more about Dr. Killingsworth, visit www.atlantaaesthetics.com. To learn more about Red Spot Interactive, visit www.redspotinteractive.com.

Dr. Christopher Killingsworth

How do you track new leads to your practice?
We utilize Red Spot Interactive’s cloud-based marketing and patient acquisition platform to track all of our leads. We have unique phone numbers on all of our marketing channels as well as a trackable lead form on our website — both filter into our reporting environment, allowing us to measure the ROI for all of our marketing efforts. Measuring in this way helps me make better, more informed decisions about future marketing and patient acquisition outreach.

Is there an example of any changes you have made as a result of better tracking?
Yes. Early on in my practice, I did a lot of local print advertising. Once we got started with Red Spot Interactive, we were able to start tracking what leads actually came from print and quickly realized it wasn’t a good return on investment. The marketing buy was very expensive, and the results were not that favorable. Now, we essentially do zero print marketing and have invested more of our resources into digital marketing.

How do you manage leads effectively?
Since becoming involved with Red Spot Interactive, we have been able to use their platform to track our leads, and we are able to see reports on the entire acquisition process from the lead to schedule rate,  through to the purchase rate, and we can see certain key performance indicators and measure them continually just by reading the dashboard. Therefore, we are able to make decisions about what could be going wrong in the process (or is going wrong) just by consistently monitoring these key performance indicators. The technology really allows us to measure and review these metrics efficiently which, in turn, allows us to manage leads effectively.

What is the biggest challenge you find in the practice in regards to obtaining new patients?
In the past, one of the biggest challenges in the patient acquisition process was efficiency and consistency. There is data to suggest that new leads should be followed up with immediately and more than once. However, when my staff is focused on patients (as they should be), it can be difficult for them to really follow up with new leads consistently.

How have you resolved that issue?
The technology we’ve discussed allows us to follow up with the leads more consistently and oftentimes immediately. Doing so has also increased our conversion rates and given us a better understanding of our conversion rates. The Red Spot Interactive marketing automation and 24/7 reporting has helped us streamline our processes and also grow the bottom line. Most importantly,  my staff can stay focused on the most important thing, our patients. They aren’t distracted with sending out emails; instead, we use an automated platform that helps us follow up with lead inquiries and also send targeted marketing email campaigns consistently.

When your team schedules consultations, what’s the next step?
We have a follow-up process once a patient is scheduled. This process includes automated appointment reminders (via email) that alert the patients of their upcoming appointment. We try to remind the patient multiple times leading up to the day of the appointment. This definitely helps in the patient acquisition process; it is an important step and has improved attendance. This also helps free up time so that the office can have time to call patients and touch base on a more personal level, and this platform allows us time for more human interaction as well.

How do you turn a consultation into an actual purchase?
Patient education is important to me and my staff. We use the consultation to further educate the patient and provide a very thorough evaluation. We’re not a high-volume practice; I would say we’re a high-margin practice, and so that allows us to spend a lot of time during the initial consultation outlining our plan of treatment, and of course everything is individualized to the patient. My staff makes sure that the patient has all the information they need once we give them the consultation, and from there, we do use the automated system with Red Spot Interactive to continue to follow up with the patient after they leave, sending reminders as well as emails. We also use email marketing automation to continually retarget patients once they’ve purchased or completed a treatment plan.

Is there any one thing about the Red Spot Interactive technology that is most important to you?
I would say that the data retrieval aspects of the platform is the most important to me because the data allows me to measure all of our activity and make better decisions about the future of my practice that  not only benefits me, but also benefits my patients and staff. Being able to look at the data and know what’s going on at all times brings a level of confidence and professionalism into everything we do at the practice. Plus, those resources help me derive the best ROI possible.

To learn more about Dr. Killingsworth, visit www.atlantaaesthetics.com. 

To learn more about Red Spot Interactive, visit www.redspotinteractive.com.

 

To listen to Dr. Killingsworth’s full interview at Aesthetic Insider™ Radio CLICK HERE!

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