How to Talk with Patients Over the Phone

Welcome to pelvis podcast. I'm Dr. Kelly Alhui. I've grown my pelvic health practice, orthopelvic physical therapy, and now I'm helping pelvic health professionals do the same. Each week I give you the knowledge you need to grow your practice. Let's get into today's episode.

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Today I'm going to be going over how to do a call from start to end handling objections, how to talk to people on the phone because I know most of you guys struggle with that. And if you guys by the end of this still want to, you know, do objection handling, just message me on Instagram or in my email and say hey or comment below Objections. And we will do a free training more on this because this takes years to get because there's. Yes, we have scripts for it but you know, every scenario can be slightly off and it can throw you off. So here's an example of how I actually get on the phone with someone and talk to them. So here we go. So ring, ring, ring. Hi, this is Kelly from Orthopedic Physical Therapy. How can I help you? Hi, my name is Sally and I'm just wondering if you take my insurance. Sometimes they don't say their name, so then that's when you can say, hi, can I ask who I'm speaking with? Hi, I'm Sally. Hey Sally, can I ask what issue you're looking to get solved for physical therapy or why you gave us a call today or what problem that you're experiencing right now? Okay, that's the question you want to ask or hey Sally, how can I help you today? Just that alone, like that may sound more natural for you. You can play on these words. Hey Sally, how can I help you today? Well, you know, I've been going to the gym and I have leakage with jumping and I really just don't like that. Oh, okay, Sally. Well, tell me what you don't like about that. This is when you have to dig. So you've got to really dig in on what Sally's problem is at the gym.

Yes.

She just told us it's leakage. This is where most of us stop. But you cannot stop there. So, Sally, why does it bother you that when you go to the gym, you have leakage? Well, I can't, like, really work out the way I want. Okay. So now I have to dig deeper than that. Cause that's still not the real reason why. So why does that matter that you still can't work out the way that you want? Well, I just feel like I'm going to gain weight because I can't work out the way I want. And it's also embarrassing that I have leakage. Oh, yes, Sally. So what you're really saying is you're trying to stop your leakage because your leakage causes you to not want to work out, and you're also embarrassed by that, which then alone is going to decrease your confidence because you don't want to go to the gym because it's so embarrassing and you just don't want to deal with the problem. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. Right there. I just broke down massive barriers, and it may not be as quick as I just did on this call, but I just broke down massive barriers for this person of why she's truly actually calling me. And I'm giving her clarity of why she's calling me. Because Sally just thought she was calling me to get her leakage solved, but she's really calling me because her confidence is hurt and she's afraid that if she doesn't go to the gym, she's going to gain weight. So that's a big problem. So now here's the next question. After you dig, dive deep and dig. How long has this been going on for, Sally? Well, this has been going on for two years. Let me ask you this, Sally. What have you done in the past two years to help solve this problem? Well, I tried to go to the urologist, and they just put me on medication, and I went to my ob, but, you know, she didn't see anything. I don't really have a prolapse, so I didn't know what to do. So I've just been dealing with it. But it's getting worse. Oh, so it's getting worse. You have to repeat back what they're saying. Oh, so it's getting worse. So what you're saying is nothing that you have tried has helped make your symptoms better. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. Well, if I were to help you out with this today, Sally, and if we were to get your problem solved, is that something that you'd be interested in? Yes, that is something I'd be interested in. Right. There is a micro commitment from Sally that she is on board to come in. And you need to point out to Sally that if she continues to go see the urologist and OB and try to just keep going to the gym, that her problem is not going to be solved, that we have the solution to help solve our problem. So in a minute, I'm going to show her the solution of how we're going to get her to from point A to point B. So she told us it's been going on for two years. That's how long it's been going on for. What does this issue stop you from doing? You did say leakage, but does it stop you from having intercourse? Does it stop you from going to the gym? We kind of already figured that out. Because she doesn't want to go to the gym because she's embarrassed. But does it stop you from picking up your kids? Does it stop you from jogging? These are things we can ask her because she has leakage. Does it stop you from pushing the stroller down the road because that's when you have an increase in leakage. I would love to know that. Oh, yeah, it does stop me from that, or no, it doesn't. Okay, great. So then my next question is, so what do you want to get back to? So it seems like you want to get back to doing your CrossFit and going to the gym and sounds like you want to be able to jump and push the stroller. Is that correct? Yes, I would love to do that so that you feel more confident and not have that leakage and feel that you can lose that weight. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. So I'm just literally repeating back what she's telling me, and then this is when I go, Sally, if we were to help you with this problem, is that something that you would consider coming in for? Yes, but I just wanted to know. This is when. Here comes the objection. Yeah, I just want to know, like, how much you guys cost. I just want to know that. Great question, Sally. Just so you know, we're an ADD, a network provider. We charge 230 a visit and provide you with a super bill. So, Sally, when would you like to come in? So with that Being said, I'm kind of rushing it. When I went right into, when she asked me, so how much do you charge? Before that, before she asked me that, before I let, kind of let her ask me that. You want to actually get them to see the vision of what it is like to work with you before they ask the insurance question. Now sometimes on these calls they just call and they go, hi, I'm wondering if you take my insurance. You want to at first ignore it. It's not that we're going to not answer it, but you want to try to first ignore it and get to their deeper why of truly why they're calling you. Because their brain only knows to ask for insurance. This is just how we've been trained, guys. It's nothing against you, it's nothing against them, but we have to get them to see past that. This is called future pacing. You have to get them to see that you have the solution and that you can fix their problem. So there's two ways that we do it. At Orthopelvic, we have a unique method that I came up with called the LSR method. There's a lengthening phase, that's four visits. There's a strengthening phase, that's four visits and there's a return phase, that's four visits. So we lengthen the tissue first, then we re educate it, then we get the back to them, like to their activities. In this case, in Sally's case, it is to get back to the gym without leakage. We have to show them the path. We also use pyramids. Hey Sally, you're right here, right now in this pyramid and we have people like, you know, peeing their pants. That's the picture. And then we have people at the top of the pyramid jumping without any issues and dry pants. Okay, you're here and you said you want to get to here, is that correct? Yes.

So.

So with that being said, because of our signature method, using the LSR method and you have to be unique so you can use whatever method you want. But because of our signature method, we're able to get people from here to here. And again, before we go into the insurance question, now I'm telling a story about a similar case to Sally. So Sally, I know at the beginning of this call you mentioned you were seeing if we take insurance. We are an out of network provider and here's the reason why. Last week we had a patient come to us that called us three months ago and she wanted to come see us and she called us back and she Canceled because she found someone cheaper. So she went to them for two months, made no progress, paid $2,000 in copay, and that's not even half of the other bills that she's gotten. But she paid $2,000 in copay and hasn't gotten the result. And last week she called us back and she's coming to see us. And within one week she finally was able to see progress. Do you think that that person regretted to come see us? Based on her past experience with other places that were in network, do you think she regretted when she actually finally got the result? Because of our proven LSR method, Let the patient talk or let the patient answer. The patient's going to go, no, I'm sure she doesn't regret it. So I just know that most of our patients here have insurance and they choose to come to us because of the results that we actually get. So I know that I don't want you to be like Sally or like Susan that that just came in last week. I don't want you to be a Susan. And I just know that if you are willing to invest a little bit of money to come into yourself, that you're worth it and that we can truly get this problem solved. And we're going to do that in a couple of months. So my question is, are you committed to getting this problem solved and getting it solved quickly? Well, yes, but like how much do you charge? Great question, Sally. So we charge 230 a visit. We will provide you with the super bill. Is there a day and time, no pause. Is there a day and time that works best for you to get it on the schedule? Okay, so Tuesday at 3:00'. Clock. Great. What's your card information? You have to get them get their card information. Well, I don't have my card information. Well, we take debit card, credit card, flexible healthcare savings. And I know it may take you a second to get that. I'll wait if you want to grab that because we need a card on file to hold your spot. Oh, okay, hold on, let me put my baby down and get my card. Okay. So they get their card, we put it on file. Okay, put it on file. And then um, we're like, okay, great, Sally, just be on the lookout for an email to tell you how to find us what to wear and all the things. And we cannot wait to see you in two days on Tuesday. And then Sally comes in. This right here is an example of how you handle the insurance question of I want to go in network and not out of network and, or you guys charge too much or you guys cost too much, I'm not going to pay that. But the reality is most of these people haven't met their deductibles and they're gonna be paying because we're specialty, maybe paying 50, $60 copay on top of the visits. And typically in network they're charging anywhere between 200 to 400 a visit and they're gonna get that bill on the back end. Most of you guys that are listening to this know this. But truly going in network is not saving them money. It's just all how their brain has been conditioned to think. Well, I'm paying for insurance so I might as well use it. But that's just not the case. And it's not actually gon them money. It's like the Walmart version of care. By the way, I don't break that down necessarily on the phone like that because sometimes it's a big turn off. It just depends on if someone is a logical buyer. There's people that are logical buyers and there's emotional buyers. So someone that is a logical buyer is going to break down someone that's very analytical. They're going to be like, okay, so, so it's 2:30 a session. So how many sessions do I need? Okay, wait, so that means I'm going to be paying, I need 12 sessions. Okay, so I'm not going to be paying like almost $3,000 to come see you. That's a logical buyer. And with those logical buyers, sometimes you do have to break it down for them to then to understand what they're paying for and the value that you are bringing them for the emotional buyer, that's me, you just have to show me that I'm going to get the result. But you can't state all the steps to a emotional buyer. You can't go, so first we're going to use the wand that I use my finger internally. Then I'm going to show you how to belly breathe. Then I'm going to show you how to contract your abs. Then I'm not like that. Overwhelms the crap out of them. And now you lost them. You have to tell a story that Susie over here had your same exact problem, Sally. And this is how we're going to solve it because this is how we solved it for Susie. And that right there will get emotional buyers to buy in. I have many scripts in my mastermind program. Many, many, many. Like literally over 20 different scripts for all different scenarios. But you've got to practice and practice and practice this because there's many different things that can be thrown your way that it's just, it's not scripted. So it takes time. But hopefully this right here really helps break down in very easy format of how you actually talk to people on the phone and break things down for them when they are asking for are you in network and do you take my insurance? So hopefully that helps. Guys, I consider myself a business and life coach. Are you ready to live the life of your dreams as an entrepreneur? If so, let's chat. See the episode notes below and go ahead and book a call. See you all next week.