As of March 2024 we have renamed Apexchat to Blazeo. We are excited to share the next part of our journey with our customers and partners.
The name ApexChat implies that we are primarily a chat company, which is no longer true. Now we have many offerings, such as call center services, AI, Appointment setting, SMS Enablement, Market Automation, and Sales acceleration (Q2 2024), that go beyond chat. The new name will not only allow us to convey the breadth of our offering but will also better convey our company’s mission and values.
Blazeo, which is derived from the word Blaze, evokes a sense of passion, speed, and energy. A “Blaze” is captivating, illuminates, and represents explosive growth. Blazeo encapsulates our mission to ignite such growth for our customers and partners by delivering innovation with passion, speed, and energy.
The third essential strategy for ApexChat is proper follow up. Not every live chat lead is a prospect for a procedure right now. Many are doing their research for a procedure they plan to get in three to nine months, or even later. Or they’re browsing to see what’s available and possible for them at some point in the future. These prospects aren’t to be missed or disregarded. Engage in a relationship so you’re the first surgeon and practice they come to when they’re ready because you’ve stayed in touch with specific quality and value for them.
Build a relationship with consistent or strategic follow-up if a live chat lead doesn’t answer your phone call, text message or email. Even a live chat lead isn't in the market for a scheduling consult right now you can work on strengthening your relationship.
At this point, you have their phone number and email address, and hopefully, if you’ve spoken to them, their physical mailing address as well. Every piece of information on a live chat lead must go into your CRM (patient management software) for consistent and catered communication. Here are three tips to ensure these follow-ups are effective
First, you should have a general practice email list that is applicable to all of your patients (male, female, past, present). This may be for announcements relevant to them such as event invitations (so long as it’s not a specific treatment event). If you frequently send notifications that don’t apply to all of your patients and prospects you’ll increase your likelihood of unsubscribes and getting ignored.
[wonderplugin_gallery id="6"]The next correspondence is segmented lists based on your subscriber demographic and interests. For example, you should have a female only list for announcements regarding a new procedure that is gender specific to females. If you send this out to all patients, the men will become bothered and less focused on future emails. People are interested in what's of value to them.
You should also segment based on the procedure the prospect is looking for. Opportunities to advertise specific medical services include a special you’re running during a slow period or an improved procedure poised to replace an existing one. The point is, your prospect is only receiving email notifications of value and benefit specifically to him or her. The same understanding holds true for text message reminders or phone calls. You should incorporate these into your inbound marketing strategy as well. Personalized communication cannot be overlooked, especially with the diversity of procedures offered in most aesthetic practices.
Send personalized a prospective new patient package when you capture the email address for a live chat lead. It should contain all the procedures you offer to their sex. Be sure to list the procedures that they specifically inquired about first. It should also include before and after procedure pictures and testimonials. A beautiful composition should recipients and hold their attention. Patients will be pleasantly surprised by the mailer.
Physical mail is not dead. Separating yourself by mailing a well-designed introductory folder with all your services and testimonials will help you stand out from your competition. Sending semi-annual physical mailings and up-to-weekly email correspondence tailored to their goals will also keep the prospect engaged. This way they'll choose your practice when they’re ready to move forward. We will cover how to craft these emails and messages another article. It’s not enough to have the frequency and proper targeting in place. The correspondence has to be of value and quality as well.
You never know where a person is in their procedure process, so the correspondence should never stop unless the prospective patient unsubscribes or asks you to not call or text anymore. This consistency make a direct impact on the chance they'll schedule with you. Regular follow-up will also increase referrals from prospects who haven’t come in for a procedure yet.
By using this third strategy you’ll turn far more leads into happily paying, referring patients.
By Dr. Josh Wagner, Aesthetic Practice Strategies [social_share]