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Enhanced training & consulting program accelerates practice success

Article-Enhanced training & consulting program accelerates practice success

Often, when a practice begins to implement a digital marketing plan they discover a steep learning curve, technical questions they cannot resolve, and the need to hire additional staff to manage such programs.

Conversely, many practices that have employed third-party digital marketing companies to oversee these tasks have often found these firms to be one trick ponies. Some of them might be able to adequately deploy a website; but may drop the ball on comprehensive email / social media marketing or staff training.

However, Crystal Clear Digital Marketing (Orlando, Fla.) offers an intensive, hands-on approach that incorporates automation, data retrieval and measurable performance standards to help practices standardize their marketing outreach, as well as combine and center all office functions around a single, expandable system.

The company’s new Enhanced Training Program helps aesthetic practices achieve both marketing and overall business objectives via advanced on-site training and the Social Patient Center (SPC) software platform.

Encompassing a comprehensive marketing platform, the SPC system manages a practice’s online / social media presence and website more successfully, tracks revenues and return on investment (ROI), and controls the inbound phone call process.

Additionally, this program delivers best-in-class strategies to help practices implement targeted business processes. This includes effectively maximizing the percentage of new opportunities that convert into consultations, scheduled treatments
and loyal patients.

While deploying a high-quality website is essential and drives prospective patients to call the practice, “That website is not as important as you might think,” expressed Adam DeGraide, founder and CEO of Crystal Clear Digital Marketing.

“You definitely need a good site that is effective and provides data that converts well, but the most important part of any digital initiative is the people involved in that digital marketing process,” he further elaborated.

“For instance, there are hundreds of tools that can send a mass email, but then the question becomes, what do you do with the data generated from that mailing? What do you do if you know someone has opened that email? Is there a script you can follow? Should you proactively reach out to them? Crystal Clear provides the tools to follow through,” Mr. DeGraide shared.

Practices that adopt the Enhanced Training Program also embrace a new mindset and corresponding strategies to attract, convert and retain patients, Mr. DeGraide expressed.

“The most important part of a digital initiative has nothing to do with marketing. It has to do with the way a practice answers the phone, responds to online inquiries and creates a five-star experience for the practice,” Mr. DeGraide said.

“Success will be determined by the extent that each practice – its staff, business processes and service attitude – meets the specific needs of the elective patient,” he shared.

Crystal Clear’s new training program provides the services required to implement an operational digital outreach program and controls all aspects of the business. Nevertheless, what makes this service exceptional is that the company also assigns a seasoned sales and business trainer to work both on and offsite with the staff, in order to help them achieve
and maintain the practice’s business and patient goals.

As outlined by April Linden, executive vice president of training and implementation at Crystal Clear Digital Marketing, the
program includes continual training on the SPC software, as well as patient consulting guidelines and sales training on a wide range of relevant topics.

“This program is designed to take advantage of all the different metrics Crystal Clear has access to, mainly its website design, search engine optimization (SEO), marketing services and training,” Ms. Linden advised.

“The design of the website is going to attract patients and the SEO will drive patients to the practice. The SPC system allows practices to manage and monitor where patients are in their pipeline,” she continued.

“This software is a powerful tool to help the staff move patients through the process, as well as to help them understand the metrics regarding patient satisfaction and conversion,” Ms. Linden added. “We want to give practices an assistive link, which is training and implementation, that can help them maximize every opportunity.”

In essence, Crystal Clear Digital Marketing forms a valuable partnership with clients that purchase this program. A designated team is then assigned to work with the physicians and staff, to train and help them learn the system’s mechanics.

“With new or existing clients, we teach them the ins and outs of how to effectively use patient data to follow through with leads and email marketing. In addition, we teach them how to improve their communication skills to convert more patients,” stated Ms. Linden. “The majority of practices have enough volume already, but it comes down to learning how to be more efficient with that volume and how to incorporate different members of the team to successfully find, serve and keep more patients.”

Early adopters of the Enhanced Training Program are enthusiastic and extremely satisfied with the results. “As part of the Enhanced Program we receive four onsite training days, 24 bi-monthly sales management meetings, 12 monthly executive meetings, a monthly Practice Report Card and unlimited software-based training,” stated Tim Vigil, a certified aesthetic consultant and chief operations officer at Restore Health & Beauty (Loveland, Colo.), a multi-site practice that offers both medical and aesthetic services.

This program is exceptional for driving new and existing patients into the practice, because it streamlines the patient acquisition process, Mr. Vigil stated. “The SPC program provides us with a standardized protocol for capturing patient data more effectively, scripts designed to educate prospective patients on all of our procedures, and sales guidelines on how to follow-up with those who don’t make appointments,” he noted.

Automation features in the SPC system ensure that fewer patients fall through the cracks and that staff can improve overall efficiency. “We are able to take advantage of the power of ratings and reviews using the software,” Mr. Vigil noted. “And the email marketing gives us the ability to communicate with our entire patient base about monthly promos and special events.”

When asked why a physician should choose this program and company over the countless competitors in the digital marketing space, Mr. Vigil responded: “We wanted a company that could provide us with good references. Before making our final decision, we talked to other business owners who have worked with the company. We asked how satisfied they were with their website design and functionality? What additional features or services did they use and how well did these work for them? Would they make the same choice today if they had it to do over again?”

One of the selling points for Mr. Vigil was the Onsite Training Program, in which members of Crystal Clear’s enhanced training team work with the staff to create a program uniquely shaped to the practice’s needs. “Literally, we have a Training Bible on how to run a successful aesthetic practice,” stated Mr. DeGraide.

Training incorporates everything from how to effectively answer a phone call with defining scripts used for different treatments, to the best ways to convert those phone calls and forms into actual consultation appointments.

“We go in for four days a year and actually become an outsourced manager,” Mr. DeGraide added. “Every two weeks we get on the phone with the core people in the practice, log into the software together and literally work their pipeline opportunities as a team. We always keep them focused on where the money is and where the opportunities are for new patient revenue. In addition, we provide an assessment on each individual practice and on each individual employee.”

By combining best practices in marketing with business processes, the SPC and Enhanced Training Program have become invaluable, explained Alex Talley, marketing director at Ozark Regional Vein Center and Renew Aesthetics at Pinnacle Point (Rogers, Ark.), and Kevin Haney, M.D., medical director of Ozark Regional Vein Center. With all the EMRs and different types of programs and software that’s out there, it has been great to be able to consolidate and make things easier in the day-to-day flow of the practice, they noted.

Dr. Haney’s clinic has adapted quickly to the Enhanced Training Program’s best practices. “The program revolutionized the way we do things, from contact management to marketing and more,” said Mr. Talley. “As the marketing director, it has been a huge help to me. The SEO benefits, email marketing features, social media, etc. And they keep our website at the top of Google rankings.”

The staff is helpful and always follow through, Mr. Talley added. “They religiously keep track of reach on social media. Each month we get a report from them on conversions, percentages, SEO impacts and several daily metrics that would be very difficult to gather on our own.”

According to Mr. Vigil, the SPC system captures all practice communications, such as phone calls and emails. “We are able to understand where every patient is within the practice.”

Our team is able to strategically follow up with our hot prospects by focusing on the right patients at the right time,” Mr. Vigil shared. “We use the conversion data to understand what aspects of the process are working and what areas need improvement. From this data, we can provide additional training and skills development for our team based on our needs and objectives.”

“Because of this new program, we’ve acquired a wide range of new skills,” Mr. Talley noted. “For instance, we now use shopper sheets while our receptionists are on the phone with current or prospective patients, to make sure that they are not missing any areas for information gathering and appointment scheduling. This information is transferred over to the SPC. We are using the program constantly and it is a tremendous help for us. It is phenomenal as we acquire new patients and hold onto them.”

Hands-on staff training rounds out the list of distinctive features of the Enhanced Training Program. “One of the key takeaways from this was the importance of training our staff on being more responsive and engaging with every potential patient who walks through our doors, calls our practice and / or reaches out to us electronically,” Mr. Vigil explained.

During the training, the outsourced practice management professional leads the staff in various role-play scenarios, such as how to overcome patient objections, resulting in better equipped team members who feel more comfortable with tough topics like fees, financing, treatment outcomes, etc.

One of the key elements of this program is applying best-in-class retail standards to a practice, reported Mr. Vigil. “Our team has embraced these service standards, such as innovation, teamwork and problem resolution with the highest degree of engagement. As a result, perpatient revenues are increasing, retention is higher and patient satisfaction is growing,” he reported.

For any practice that has not connected its marketing and business processes, Crystal Clear Digital Marketing’s comprehensive system combines the needed, full range of tools.

“The old patchwork approach, in which practices employ multiple providers for these various staff and business-related functions, ultimately does not work well,” Mr. DeGraide warned.

“A holistic approach is long overdue. Think about how fragmented marketing solutions are a pain to manage. It is the same when it comes to the people that are involved in the practice’s business processes,” he pointed out.

“Historically, practices have not looked at their people as the most important ingredient to successfully run and manage marketing initiatives. But, think about it; a practice’s best marketer is the staff member who greets the prospective patient,” he commented.

In addition, a practice should externally present a very high-touch image and brand in order to succeed in attracting people from the digital / social media world. However, that brand may need some attention in the real world where the  best physicians can get upstaged online by a competitor that is marketing savvy.

“If practices are not loving and caring for their patients and not trying their hardest to get the best outcomes medically, then there is no digital marketing company in the world that can save that practice,” noted Mr. DeGraide.

“However, take a close look at practices that are booming and check out their presence online. You might say to yourself, ‘they’re not even as good a surgeon as me.’ But what you’re not seeing is that they are better business people than you.”

For physicians that feel left out in their region, Dr. Talley recommended, “Always strive to be the best physician or surgeon, and while you’re being an amazing surgeon, make sure you have the right people running your practice and covering the business side of things. By doing this, your practice can absolutely dominate in your competitive area because you have both bases covered.”

In reality some practitioners are good at being physicians and some are good at marketing, but not many are good at doing both, continued Mr. DeGraide.

“This is a delicate subject,” he said. “Ask yourself why other practices that you think are not as good as yours are doing better than you. Most of the time it doesn’t have anything to do with the clinical side, but it has everything to do with the business side.”

To get a handle on how to run a business well, practitioners that have looked at third-party solutions prefer a comprehensive program. “Practices are realizing they don’t want to just buy another single solution, they want to buy a system that actually gets results,” stated Mr. Talley.

“We’re probably the only provider out there that offers that full solution, which includes website and online marketing software, as well as a training implementation program that physicians don’t have to outsource,” reported Ms. Linden.

“We travel to the practice, get to know everything about their business and help them succeed,” she continued. “We’re experienced — some with over 25 years in the industry. We understand the nuances, and we’re helping to train and guide these owners and their staff to succeed with every prospect.”

So far, the response to the Enhanced Training Program continues to grow. “Crystal Clear offers a complete solution package to each of our practices, from website presence, digital marketing solutions and pipeline management software, to consulting and implementation,” said Mr. Vigil.

In the past, he has seen various website and marketing companies, consulting firms, and stand-alone software developers come and go. “Crystal Clear Digital Marketing’s all-in-one solution makes it easier for us to acquire, convert and retain patients seamlessly,” Mr. Vigil concluded.“The company’s commitment to a longterm partnership is backed up with demonstrated accountability, responsiveness and attention to detail.”