Upscale laser eye surgery clinic in Ireland increases telephone conversion rate by 66%

Background:

A laser eye surgery clinic in Ireland hired us to increase their telephone sales.

Problem:

Convinced they were leaving opportunities unclaimed, the manager of this clinic contacted us to review his team’s telephone practices and suggest improvements through training. Leads were not being counted prior to training, but the manager suspected that they were converting at around 40%.

A series of mystery calls revealed that operators “talked really fast, offered lots of information about the surgery (about initial appointment, surgery, post-surgery medication, cost and more) extremely quickly” and without the mystery caller asking for any of it. Operators failed to “ask about caller details”, demonstrated a “hassled” demeanour “as if trying to get off the phone as quickly as possible.” They “provided quick information about prices, but did not offer an appointment, (and) only stated that the final price will be determined after the initial consultation.” When a mystery caller would not book an appointment over the phone, operators “did not attempt to overcome objections” and “did not provide any information about treatments and did not ask about present conditions.”

Solution:

We carried out one day of onsite training in Ireland. After successful completion of exams, operators were again evaluated by mystery callers with the following results:

Operators were “polite and very informative. Confident in giving information and advice. Dealt with objections of giving address and booking appointment in a very professional and understanding manner.” They were” polite and spoke very clearly. Asked relevant questions with regards to the lead up to enquiry and was very helpful when answering questions/dealing with objections. Gave information in confident manner.” Further, they were more “efficient. Very informative and confident when giving information. Asked some personal questions and sold the services of the company very well with detail. Dealt with objections well and in a understanding manner.”

Result:

Monitoring progress for 3 months post training, conversion rates climbed to 66.5% with some operators reaching levels as high as 72.5%. Importantly, these results were calculated on the basis of real lead counts (sales conversations). Assuming everything else being equal, the sales team improved by their conversion rates by 66.2%.