In this instructional video Kelly Alhooie coaches cash‑based PT/OT clinic owners on how to respond when a patient, after a positive initial evaluation, decides to switch to a cheaper provider. Kelly explains that the patient’s decision signals a perceived lack of value and that clinicians must better communicate the plan and excitement for future sessions. She outlines a step‑by‑step script: first, ask the patient to elaborate on what was “great” about the eval to uncover unmet expectations; second, address price concerns by offering in‑network, spaced‑out appointments (every 2‑3 weeks or monthly) and a promise to check in on progress; third, differentiate the clinic by highlighting its mobility‑first LSR (Lengthening‑Strengthening‑Running) method, which focuses on hip mobility before strengthening, a specialty many competitors lack; fourth, ask the patient to keep the appointment on the books or agree to a follow‑up schedule, and finally, place the patient on a calendar reminder for regular check‑ins, treating them as a hot lead who may return if other providers don’t deliver results. The video emphasizes using specific language, reinforcing unique value, and systematic lead nurturing to retain patients.
Chapters
All right, so this is Sally calling us. She had her initial evaluation. Her next visit is scheduled, and she calls us and says, "That was a great eval, but I'm gonna go somewhere that's cheaper." Number one, I just want to speak on this for a second. Number one, that tells me that the value was not high enough at the original visit to make this person want to come back in for another one, and that she. Uh, could see herself progressing up the ladder and like actually getting better. To me, that tells me in the session that the— maybe the PT or OT, uh, we need to do a better job on explaining to someone like what's going to happen at each session and like what they're going to do on the next one and really get them excited to come in and look forward to that rather than them just say It probably wasn't worth my money, so let me go find somewhere cheaper. And then that's why they're calling us to find somewhere cheaper and cancel with us. So there's many different ways you can approach this. Number one, I would just ask them if they said eval was great. Well, can you can you tell me? Can you elaborate a little bit more, Sally? What was so great about that? I want to hear her speak about what was so great, so that potentially. Something may come out that something wasn't so great, or maybe she had these expectations and then these expectations were not met. So that's really, really important that even if she goes bye-bye, I need to get information on how things are being run and like what was her experience like so that we can always make things better. So that being said, she says, "I want to go somewhere that's cheaper." This is what I would say. This is number one. Um, Sally, if price is a concern with you, um, then you can go in-network and we can— you can keep your appointments here. We can just spread them out and you can follow up with us every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks, every month to see how progress is, um, going. You could also check out other places. If you find in 2 weeks that you're not making the progress that you would like, you can go ahead and give us a call back. Uh, we would love to help you. Is that also okay if we go ahead and call you in 2 weeks to check in on your progress to see how you are? And if we're not progressing, that, you know, we can give you something to help continue to progress you. Is that okay? Let Sally answer, see what she says. Um, you can also state this. This is another method that I like to use. Um, I just know, Sally, those other PT places won't focus on this. So for instance, like, we have Uh, we deal with lots of hip pain, and hip pain, a lot of places just focus on strengthening. And a lot of times at first, especially in the earlier rehab stages of it all, you have to focus on mobility. So we can state, I just know that other PT or OT places won't focus on the mobility aspect of your hip, and then it gets stiff, and then it's going to take you longer to rehab because the mobility is not there. So then you can't strengthen in a very broad range of strengthening because the joint is actually limited. And that means that the muscles are not going to get as strong because there's only a certain range that that hip can get to. So that's why we really specialize in this and we really focus on creating that mobility first. That's the lengthening phase of our LSR method, then getting the strengthening there, and then getting you back to running. Without hip pain. So based on our method, because we've treated thousands of these people, we know that we can get you there, uh, the fastest and be able to get you there without having any pain or difficulty once you complete the method. So that's what makes us unique. Um, and we would love to continue to check in with you. Um, so does— would you like to keep— would you like to keep the appointment on the books? Ask them that, see what they say. They say no, and then you can all— then you can start going down the list. Well, does every 2 weeks work for you? Does every month work for you just to do check-ins? Um, and then that way, you know, it's more affordable for you. How does that work? And then just see what they say. Um, but we at least try to continue to follow up. Also, you would then put this patient on your calendar reminder so So that every 2 weeks or every month you're checking in with this person to see if they're making progress, because this is still a really hot lead. And the fact that they're more than likely to come in if they're not making progress with that other place, because they've already been in one time. So continue to follow up, and more than likely they will come back into your clinic because they'll start to see the difference between your clinic and what the experience is like at another clinic that is in-network.
