UpClose & Personal - Ralph Stephens

I often hear therapists lament that they see lots of patients once but that the patients do not reschedule. I find this amusing. It is not the patients job to reschedule, it is the therapists job. This is called sales.

Some therapists think that sales is a dirty word, that selling is beneath them. If this is your belief, you really need to change. I do not recommend hard sell or aggressive sales techniques. However, in the case of massage, you are not selling iceboxes to Eskimos. People need massage and they need it regularly.

You are the health care professional. Your patients look to you for guidance about the best way to utilize massage as part of their wellness program, just like they look to their accountant for advice as to how the implement tax strategy. It is your obligation to educate them as to the importance of massage, the cumulative effect of regular treatments, and the necessary frequency to alleviate or manage their complaint. (Their complaint may be a specific one, like tennis elbow, or a more general one like stress.)

One of the most common mistakes therapists make is they forget to ASK the patient to reschedule. The patient is in “lala land,” pays for the massage and walks out.

A good line to use to reschedule is:
“Would you like to schedule an appointment next week?” This elicits a response from the patient, most likely yes. When in the after glow of a massage, they are most likely to reschedule.

A bad line to use is:
“I need to see you again next week.” or, “I need to see you regularly to help with your headaches.” The patient thinks, “I’ll bet you do, but I don’t.” They often decline to reschedule. The patient does not care what you need, they care about their needs.

Better to phrase it:
“You need to see me regularly so we can continue to make progress with your rotator cuff injury.” You, as the professional have just told them what they need. They will tend to take your advice.

You could get even more specific.
“Mr./Mrs. Jones, you really need to see me at least once a week for awhile if we are going to make continued progress with your wrist.”

Sometimes it even helps to offer a time.
“Would this time work for you next week?” This causes them to think and to make a choice. Again, they are most likely to reschedule during the after-glow.

The best way to get someone to do something is to ask them. Never forget to ask the patient to reschedule.

Another complaint I hear is that patients reschedule but then don’t show up for the next appointment. An excellent way to prevent this is to call the patient the day before their appointment to remind them of it. This has proven to work.

If for some reason they have decided to cancel, you at least know ahead of time. You also now have to opportunity to try to reschedule them to some other time or to find out why they are canceling. If they have a misunderstanding about the work they received, you have an opportunity to educate them, reassure them, or whatever is necessary to get them back.

If you do lose them, at least you can find out why and learn from the experience. Try to talk to them in person, not just leave a message on their voice-mail. While it is better than nothing it does not give you the opportunity to interact with the patient directly.

Hopefully, these tips will help you improve you reschedule and no show rates. If they do not, you need to do one of two things: Invest in more education in techniques so you can do better work or invest in more training in communication and sales so you can be more effective on the
interpersonal level.

For basic and advanced training in techniques for the chair, along with many therapist-patient communication tips, invest in the 3 video tape series, Seated Therapeutic Massage [Clare: hotlink to BW cgi-script page for all Ralph’s videos. Please check the cgi page to make sure that all his videos show up, and that only his videos show up.] available through Golden Ratio Bodyworks [Clare: hotlink this to GRBW homepage].

For communication and sales training, there are many books and tapes available. Find one that you are comfortable with. The ethical principles of sales are universal.

Click here: Seminar Calendar for more information on live seminars

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