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Hey, what’s up guys, Sam Carlson here with 25th West. Today I’m going to be sharing something with you. I get asked this kind of stuff all the time. How can we close better? How can we basically take leads, convert them into patients? What does that process look like? So I took a minute, I jotted some notes, my thoughts down on this here notepad and I’m going to walk you through it.

So, here’s how I think I would like to do this. The first video is going to be focused more on the process, the beginning to the end of how this actually works. Then the second video will be more of a practice. Like we’re going to break down each of these parts and actually apply some different phrases, some different psychological triggers and tools to each. I think once we get done, you’ll have a really good idea of what the closing process really looks like.

Again, just before we get started, there’s a lot of negative cache around the word closing. All we’re talking about here is proper communication. The people that learn to communicate the best are the ones that persuade and convert the best. So instead of talking about closing, in this video, we’re going to talk about converting. So again, I’ve got this all mapped out for you guys. You may be able to see it here. Okay, we’re going to start here, end over here on this side and it’s going to work out really good. Hope you guys absolutely love this.

Before we get started, there is a shortcut. If you want to know what the shortcut is, that is making sure that you hire the right person. I understand that there are different personality profiles. Doctors, generally speaking, are not the sales type of people. They’re more analytical, they’re not the emotional type. So, just understanding that alone is going to give you maybe the perspective to say, Hey, maybe I should go and find somebody to do that, if that is the route you go.

What I’ve found to be the best personality profile for that type of person is an E-N-F-J an K E-N-F-J. In the show notes below or in the video notes below, I will link a Briggs Meyers test that you can use to link that up and find out, Hey, if you’re in the process of hiring somebody and they’re going to basically do the new patient education, marketing, whatever task you have them doing, pick the right person. Start off on the right foot. Now having said that, you can learn how to communicate better. You can learn how to convert and persuade better. So we’re going to get started at the very beginning.

This assumes that you’re getting leads, that you’re getting people to come into the clinic. Now before we get into that, it is really important to understand one thing. In fact, this book right here. This book is called Great Leads, The Six Easiest Ways to Start any Sales Message. The very beginning of this book starts with where people fall on the awareness spectrum. Meaning, what do they know? That is the most important thing that you have to understand. When people come into your clinic and especially if they’re coming in through Facebook ads or any type of online traffic, that is considered a cold lead. Chances are what they know about what you do and what they need to know in order to convert is a big gap. So, you have to bridge that gap in order for them to take the leap and trust you.

So, before they ever come in, you need to understand that Hey, these people are at point A or maybe negative A, if there is such a thing. It’s your job to bring them across that bridge so they can make the choice that they need to. All right, now understanding that, in fact, I’ll probably make a video about that as far as the awareness spectrum, but for now we’re going to assume that these people are coming in essentially middle of the road awareness. Meaning, they know a little bit about what you do. They like the wellness approach. They like the holistic approach, the non-pharmaceutical approach. Now it’s our job to take them from where they’re at to a paying patient.

Step one is something I call frame and filter. Frame and filter is extremely important. From the very get go, we have got to establish that what we’re doing first is professional. We’re not just hanging our shingle and doing this by chance. We are a professional outfit and we do this to get people results. Part of that … This is a really big and important part of that. Part of frame and filter is grabbing the positioning and being able to do that by making a big and bold promise.

Again, video two is going to dive deeper into the specifics of how we do this. We have absolutely got to take control of where they’re at and let them know we are very serious about that. What that’s going to do is set what many call frame, frame control, position, basically their opinion. What do they think about you? Are you a pushover? Are you a person that’s authoritative? What do we want them to think about you? We want them to think that they’ve entered into a brand new way of doing things. That’s what we want them to think.

So, our goal is to, when they come in, they know that they’re dealing with a professional. Goal number one. When I say frame and filter, because some people are going to be turned off by that. Some people are going to be coming in for whatever discount offer or whatever free portion of your offer you’re making available to them and that’s not going to fit with them. So that is number one.

Number two is something I call removing the sale. Nothing is more nerve wracking than having to sell. I learned a long time ago that you can actually eliminate selling from the equation, from the get go by doing one thing, by removing it. Generally speaking … Here’s what I do. When they come in and after I framed and I filter those people, the next thing I do to transition into my consult is I say, “So doc or so patient, whoever it is, I hate doing this, but I got to tell you why we’re so amazing and why we’re different than anything you’ve seen. Once I’ve done that, we won’t sell any more. We’ll move on and start talking about how this is going to work for you. Fair enough?”

I’ve now got their permission. I’m now going to sell for about a minute. And in that minute, I’m going to make bold promises. I’m going to say, “Hey, we help people get rid of bulging and herniated disc without surgery. Same thing with knees. We do this without surgery. Not all back pain requires surgery. Not all neuropathy requires an endless supply of pharmaceuticals to deal with just symptoms.”

Once I’ve done that and I’ve gone through my little mini elevator pitch, I say, “Okay, that sales part is over.” Whew, it’s almost like they’re relieved. You’re relieved because now nobody’s selling. Now we’re in a consult. That is a very powerful tool for people to use, because now they’ve effectively eliminated the sale from the conversation. That is number two.

Number three, the expert consult. I cannot tell you how many people shoot themselves in the foot during their consult. In my case, if I’m selling my services, I treat that like a consult. What are the best things, the overarching rules inside of a consult? I heard a guy once say the 80, 20 rule. You speak 20% of the time, they speak 80% of the time, meaning you’re listening. 80% of the time.

An expert listens and an expert listens actively. One of the things that you might … If you’ve ever studied selling or communication, they have this thing called mirroring. Mirroring is a tool that you can use that will help people feel like you’re relating to them. All you do is you take the tone of of the conversation and when they’re communicating, when they’re saying something, you repeat back to them, generally speaking, the last three words of what they said.

So, if they said, “I get headaches three to four times a week.” I would say, “Three to four times a week?” Now they know I’ve heard them. My tone communicates to them that that is a concern for me. So, the expert consult is 100% about listening more than talking. We’re going to get more into that because the consult in and of itself is a huge beast in and of itself. Guidelines, speak less, listen more.

The next thing is, proof in the negative. Everybody’s going to come into your practice with a certain set of beliefs. These beliefs are your kryptonite. They are the thing that are going to keep you from educating them. We’re not going to be manipulating them. We’re not going to be persuading them against their will. However, when they come in with these fixed ideas and these fixed beliefs, that is something that’s going to be a impediment from getting us to where we need to go, ultimately to be able to help them.

So, proof in the negative. This is actually part of the consult, but you want to make sure that you’re doing this towards the tail end of the consult. That is this, when people start relating previous solutions that they’ve tried. Maybe in this case we might say … I mean I just had a family member go through lower back surgery. Now they’ve got lower back pain after the back surgery. They didn’t realize the amount of scar tissue that would come and go around that particular part of their spine. Now, they’ve got this fixed idea that, “Hey, surgery was supposed to work.” These other things that worked. She tried chiropractic and decompression before. None of that stuff worked.

We have to start pointing to these common solutions that are a contrast to what we do. We don’t do surgery, we have a nonsurgical solution. We’ve got to start poking holes to those things. So we might say, “So you did have … You had back surgery?” “Yes.” “How did that work out? Yeah, actually did you know that X percent of back surgeries end up in failure or end up … ?” We have to provide proof in the negative. Okay. We have to provide proof that what they’ve tried before isn’t a solution. It’s masking a symptom. So proof in the negative is a really important part.

So to this point, we’ve basically shined a light on the problem of what has been happening in their experience. The next piece is we’re going to start bridging into a new way, a discovery if you will, a new belief, a new opportunity. We do that best through demonstration and education. Now demonstration can be with a thing. We can demonstrate with any kind of widget, whatever it is. But it can also be a testimonials and stories and experiences. We need to demonstrate how a new way is actually possible. That is done through education.

So, in your tool belt of demonstration and education, your experience, case studies, common sense … I know it would seem like common sense might not work, but just by grabbing a prop and demonstrating how something works can give you a huge advantage and can make something very easy to sell. So, demonstration … In fact, I’ll link below a training we did for watch me do videos. Watch me do videos are a type of branding video that only work because of demonstration. They’re absolutely amazing for branding and things like that. The same thing happens when we’re bridging the gap of this new opportunity. We need to provide some visual proof. I don’t always mean visual like “Hey, we’re seeing a thing.” But visual like in their mind’s eye they can see this new thing, how it would work for them. So demonstration and education.

Now demonstration and education are going to lead us to proof in the positive. Now proof in the positive, in contrast to proof in the negative is, let’s see how this works for you. Now this section right here, in and of itself, I probably will do another video just on this part because it’s a pretty big topic. But proof in the positive lives on two levels, emotional proof and logical proof.

Emotional proof involves things that the five senses touch. How does this feel sensation wise? How does this … If you had a feeling, is that creating a new belief? What types of thoughts and feelings and experiences are you having right now that you can point to, that subjective, that emotional piece? We need to give them a new solution and that comes by starting with the emotional journey first.

Then second, is that logical piece. We can’t simply just say, “Hey, it felt different. So let’s go ahead and start you up with care.” You can’t do that. You need more than that. You need more backup. So, the next natural piece that you’re going to need, is the logical. Now the logical, you may refer to it as objective. Really what we’re trying to do at the logical step is we’re trying to have something to point at that is proof. It’s undeniable. It’s something you can see. That might be increased range of motion. That might be a test. That might be blood work, whatever it is, something that shows them, “Hey, when we tried this thing on you, we got a change. We saw it go from here to here.” That will give them and you, the proof you need to take them to the right step next, which is a choice.

At the end of the day, if you take them over this bridge, what’s going to happen as they go through these different steps is they are going to become a believer. They’re going to gain this new belief. They’re going to essentially convert themselves without you having to play word games or mind games. We’re just taking them through the experience and showing and educating that what we do can help them. Now I know I’ve drawn a very large process. In the show notes here, or in the video notes, I’ll have a layout of how that all works, but just understand that going through this process is an emotional journey. You’re going to get a new belief and at the end, instead of closing them, we’re going to offer them a choice, okay?

We’re going to say something to the effect of, “Now, by the time most people get to where we’re at right now, they understand how this program works and we’ve showed them how it can work for them. So what I would like to know is at this point, would you like to change this or would you like to go back to what you were doing before? What makes the most sense for you? It’s a choice.”

Then we be dead silent. We don’t say a thing. That experience for them is going to take some thinking. It’s going to take some contemplating. When there’s dead silence, that is the magic. You’re going to sit, you’re going to listen, and the next move is theirs. Nine times out of 10 they’re going to say, “Yeah, I want to make a change.” Okay, great. Now you’ve taken them through the process and you’re going to simply present to them how that change is possible.

I hope this has been helpful. Again, there’s going to be a second video to this video here. I’m going to be a little bit more detailed on each step, maybe giving some different phrases and things that will help you lead from one step to the next. But again, the closing process is really just communication. It’s understanding how to relate, how to help people get out of their own way. So hopefully this has been helpful and thanks for watching.