For most site visitors, your site is just one of many sites they visit whenever they need more information on their condition. There's no attachment beyond the writer-reader relationship.
However, as a qualified physical therapist or clinic owner, you need to get more clients, not just read your site content by unattached readers. You don't just need them as readers; you want them to be paying clients.
Lead generation is the process of actively converting site readers into clients. Here, we will discuss the digital tools used by successful physical therapy clinics in generating qualified leads.
A lead can be defined as an individual that has shown interest in your physical therapy services in any form or manner. These leads can become lifelong clients and, most importantly, ambassadors.
A lead can also be the contact details obtained from consenting individuals through a social media campaign, blog or website, contact form, or newsletter subscription.
For the sake of this lead generation manual, a lead is a person, not a data point.
The lead generation systems discussed here won't just help you nurture qualified leads into paying customers but also help filter the wheat from the chaff.
The chaff here are those leads with zero intent to patronize you, while the wheat is the real deal (they are walking green lights willing to pay you your service's worth).
Every good/qualified lead ticks these two boxes.
What use is a ’date’ that refuses to give you their phone number? That's a dead-end that turns into heartbreak if care is not taken.
If the possible lover gives you their number, they are interested, and you can choose to pursue a ‘thing’ with them.
On the other hand, if a person wears an investigator's hat in a bid to track another person down, they will be tagged a stalker or security threat. Consent is key.
Like love matters, lead generation involves getting any of the items below to ascertain that an individual is a good lead.
On his Instagram, 701maxx, a professional marketer, explained why brands should nurture their fans like fathers would cater to their kids. He stated that every reply to comments, post, shoutout, and discount counts.
Like babies, your leads have needs. They want attention and education. They know your service can help them but don't know what tier or physical therapy option would be best for them.
Throughout the aforementioned buyer’s stages, you will need several tools to automate your actions, reach out to leads and garner relevant data. Here, we will discuss the stages in detail and recommend tested and trusted lead-generation platforms for physical therapists.
You need to know the stage your lead is in before targeting them through emails or phone calls. The stage they are in will determine the offer, content, and marketing approach.
It is essential to note that some leads can schedule an appointment at your clinic after the first step, while others may require more time. The time taken before paying depends on the degree of pain, purchasing power, discovery path, and reputation of your practice.
Below are the four phases of lead generation and the platforms that can help you boost your ROI as a physical therapist.
Awareness is not just getting known; awareness is getting remembered. Be the purple cow in Seth Godin's story.
According to Seth, he was driving his family through France when they were blessed by the view of hundreds of cows grazing on picturesque pastures near the highway.
They grew sick of the view as they saw more regular black and white cows. In his words, what was amazing was now common. Worse than common, it was boring until they saw a purple cow. Then, they were awed once again.
The lesson in this story is that being seen as another physical therapy clinic won't help leads remember you. Positioning your clinic as modern with out-of-the-box characteristics would help you stand out in the sea of physical therapy clinics in your vicinity.
Below are the platforms that can help you in the awareness stage:
Congratulations! The awareness phase got you plenty of email addresses from interested clients. However, not every lead will turn into a client..
Lead education is the process of convincing leads that your physical therapy services will get them healed.
The most important tools in this phase are emails and blogs. Through educational and informational emails, you can pinpoint and discourse their specific needs and pain points; then proffer solutions to possible roadblocks leads might face while taking the leap of faith.
Remember, every email must position your products and services as the ultimate go-to solutions.
The platforms below will help you throughout the leads education phase:
Lead scoring is the process of evaluating your leads' quality, purchase power, and potential to convert into paying clients.
No general solution exists for all leads; hence, you must create personalized solutions for specific leads.
Imagine offering a Lamborghini car to a Janitor. Although he/she might want one, their purchasing capacity cannot afford it.
You must learn to create various offers for different clients as a business person. The conditions that affect lead scoring include demographic information, lead source, engagement, behavioral data, buying signals, previous customer data, and, most especially, your professional discretion.
The platforms that enhance lead evaluation include:
Lead conversion is the Medina of lead generation. It is the dream of all physical therapists. The whole process is a waste if the lead does not become a paying customer. This phase is highly dependent on the success of the previous phases.
Janet Brown woke up with neck pain. She called her cousin, Lawrence, who lives across the street, to rant about the overwhelming pain that ushered her into a new day.
Lawrence bolted to Janet’s house to help her with her kids and chores before helping her to work. After 30 minutes of massaging her neck with ointment, the pain gripped her neck more.
In frustration, Lawrence took her iPhone and searched for “drugs that cure neck pain.” On the first page of Google, she saw Adam Cares Walk-In clinic’s ad.
She clicked on it to read your article on “the fastest way to get rid of your annoying neck pain.” She read it out loud to Janet.
Then, Janet clicked on your call to action and gave Janet the phone so she could fill out the form. She tried filling out the form but stopped halfway because she wasn’t sure when she, alongside Lawrence, would be free.
They agreed to visit the clinic the next day before heading to work. Then, she filled out the form and clicked send.
Unlike Janet, a consenting lead that has shown interest in a PT company, Kelvin got a cold call from a telemarketer hired by Kennedy Clinic. He lost interest when the caller asked, "Have you heard of Kennedy's clinic and our latest bonanza package for upcoming athletes?".
Kelvin endured a hellish 3-minute monotonous conversation with a motormouth that lacked empathy. The telemarketer blabbed about a 20% discount offer on an athlete-building program at Kennedy's clinic.
Unknown to the teleprompter, Kelvin is a secretary with zero interest in sports. Kelvin was so passed that he hung up on the caller.
We've all been in the position of Kelvin, and it's safe to say no one loves cold calls. It's a stain on a beautiful day and always leads to frustration. Don't be like Dr. Kennedy; instead, go after people like Janet that are interested in your services.
Janet is a qualified lead, and the Adam Cares clinician is a good doctor that knows not to call unconsenting users randomly. On the other hand, Kelvin is not a genuine lead, and the Kennedy Clinic has done a poor job of generating leads.
A good physical therapist is not desperate; a desperate physical therapist is not good for business.
With the lead generation platforms recommended in this guide, you can follow up on all Janets (leads) no matter where they backpedaled in the lead generation process.
Since childhood, we were taught to wait for the green light before crossing the road. Crossing the road when the traffic light indicates red is the best route to the afterlife.
We will need the green-light-red-light instinct in lead generation.
Desperate business owners often buy user data from companies to reach out to unsuspecting audiences.
We’ve all been victims of these cold emails. You know how annoying it is to get emails from companies you did not offer your email address to and the satisfaction obtained from archiving their messages as spam.
Even in auction events, bidders are directed to show interest by a show of hands. One of the Bidders who indicate interest will most likely get the auctioned item. Does it make sense for the auctioneer to pronounce a group of people not interested in the items as bid winners? That’s how odd it sounds when companies storm unconsenting audiences with promotional content.
Key Takeaways
While buying customer emails can offer you more exposure, the probability of getting actual conversions is pretty low and it will only hurt your email deliverability in the long run. Your best leads are those who consent to receive emails from you and submit their contact info alongside their preferences via the online form on your landing page.