by Maureen Banyan
Where most hypnosis practices fail, is not in the quality of their hypnosis training, but rather in how well they can get clients to come in for hypnosis session!
In this article, I am going to tell you about some of the most important tips that you need to know to get your appointment books filled.
Here are the main things that you need to be aware of when you pick up that telephone!
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Greeting
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Building Rapport – Do not answer common questions like: How Much & How Long right away;
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Offer a day time discount for sessions before 4 pm, if you want to fill your appointments in the day;
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When a caller decides to book their appointments, get them to book all their appointments right away, we usually average 4-6 sessions, so we will book all 5 appointments right away
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Preventing “No-Shows”
The Importance of the the Greeting
Don’t just say “hello” or you might as just as well have said “good bye”! It is important that your greeting is one that is warm and professional. Remember, that your relationship with your client begins with this first phone call. How you present yourself will help them decide if they want to come and see you. Too many times, we hear from callers about the other hypnotists they have called and why they will not be seeing them. The complaints are usually about how they are not warmly greeted, the person is pushy or curt and not sincere. So, it is important to remember this when you answer your calls.
Building Rapport
Majority of the callers do not know what kinds of questions to ask, so the most common questions are: How Much? Or How Long? If you answer these two questions immediately, you will lose a potential client. You need to take control of the call by asking them questions instead. Ask them about the issues they would like you to help them with. This is your opportunity to educate the caller about your services and how you can help them. Let them tell you about their issue, then tell them how you can help them, how many sessions they would need, and the duration of the sessions, etc. After you have given them the information about your services, etc. you can then tell them how much your sessions cost.
What you want to do here, is build a rapport with this caller, as this caller is probably “shopping” the phone book for a hypnotist, therefore, you want to impress her.
Filling up your Day time Appointments
If you would like to fill up your day time appointments, offer a discount for appointments before 4:00 pm. Years ago, when we were not as busy during the day, we offered a 20% discount for appointments before 4:00 pm – that really helped with filling our daytime appointments.
Booking all the necessary appointments right away
Once the caller decides to make their appointment with you, then encourage them to book all their appointments right away to ensure that they can get the appointment times most convenient for them. An incentive for them to do this, is to also offer a package of the number of sessions you will need. On average, we see a person for 4-6 sessions, usually it is an average of 5 sessions, (of course, be sure to tell them that for some people the 5 sessions is sufficient, while some may require additional sessions) so we offer a 5-session package, make the discount attractive enough to motivate them to want to take the offer.
This will also indicate to you if this person is committed to the process.
Preventing “No-Shows”
Inform your callers of your appointment policy regarding re-scheduling or canceling their appointments. At our center, we require two working days’ notice to re-schedule or cancel their appointments. Inform them that if they do not give you the required notice, you will have to charge them for that session scheduled.
Ask for their Credit card no. to hold and confirm their appointments and to guarantee that they will show up for their appointment, and that they will abide by your Appointment Policy.
I know that if you implement these important tips, that your appointment book will fill up like never before.
