From Awkward to Cha-Ching: The Ultimate Guide to Talking About Money in Aesthetic Practices

Andrea (00:04):
Well, hi there. I am Andrea Watkins, and if you're listening to this, while juggling three patient calls, checking in a couple patients, taking a payment, selling skincare, and trying to catch your doctor in between procedures, you might be working in an aesthetic practice.

Blake (00:18):
And I'm Blake Lucas, and this is Practiceland. This is not your doctor's podcast.

Andrea (00:23):
We are talking about money. Does that make you uncomfortable, Blake?

Blake (00:27):
Oh man. It's a little taboo, right? I think if you work in a practice and you're a coordinator, you're about to bring up the topic of money. I think everybody's hearts we'll start to race just a little bit. But before we get too uncomfortable, I'd really like to introduce our guest today, Janelle Robinson from La Jolla Cosmetic down in San Diego. Thank you so much for joining us, Janelle.

Janelle (00:47):
Thank you for having me.

Andrea (00:49):
Janelle. When you think about talking about money with patients, how's that make you feel?

Janelle (00:56):
I think that it's a difficult conversation and it's not just difficult because you're asking them to part with a lot of money, but there's so much that goes into it and we have to really make sure that we feel like we're sharing our story of value and that they feel good about the investment. It can be sticky for sure.

Andrea (01:20):
So before we jump into the nitty gritty of how to really help people make that conversation easier, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself? Any other jobs that you've done other than COO in the practice?

Janelle (01:33):
I started as the marketing coordinator, and when I moved into the patient coordinator role, I think it was really instrumental having that background because when the phone rang, I really appreciated what it took to get that phone to ring and the patient on the other line. So I had a deep respect for that call and I put my 150% into it. And so now leading the whole team from the patient coordinators, to marketing and the clinic staff, I have that perspective. I've done what they're doing and I do think when they listen to me give them tips, it's like I've done their job. And so yeah, I've been able to grow within the practice. And again, being a manager when I've been in their shoes makes a big difference.

Andrea (02:26):
So let's get on track and start talking about this money thing. That can be one of the hardest things to talk about and to train people in a practice, because we all come with different perceptions of money and different perspectives, whether it's how we grew up, if we grew up poor or rich or was financing and money and savings was all that taboo, we don't talk about it. Or was it just a very open conversation? When do you believe, Janelle, we should really start bringing up the cost and money and potential financing and all that when we're talking to new potential patients.

Janelle (03:03):
So definitely building that rapport with the patient and getting to know them, asking them questions about what their goals are. And from there what we're doing is we're also sharing information about our practice, building that value, credentialing the doctors and sharing how we're different. And I think too, the other thing that we experience is there's so many walks of life that contact our practice with so many different reasons. And so we are constantly adjusting ourselves to how we present this information, and we really build a lot of that rapport and build our value before sharing the price. And by then it doesn't feel as awkward for the person sharing that because they feel even comfortable. It's not just about making the patient comfortable but the staff member because they've now established a relationship with the patient too. So that's I think the biggest thing is just really taking some time to get to know them, and people love to be heard and know that what you're doing is in their best interest.

Blake (04:19):
Janelle, with that too, I think sometimes even our own staff can be a bit wary or uncomfortable bringing up that conversation. Right? Have you ever had staff come to you and say, I don't know how to bring this up, or I am scared to bring this up. How do you maybe overcome that initial fear or how do you train that out of them?

Janelle (04:39):
Well, if they're feeling uncomfortable talking about pricing, I think it has a lot to do with that they don't quite feel armed with the value presentation, and that there's probably an opportunity to learn more about the doctors. And we'll have our patient coordinators sit in during their consults and really get a sense of how they communicate with patients so they can be a true extension. And when they're going through that experience with the doctors, they can authentically be passionate about talking about them. And then it becomes just natural instead of sharing with them their resume and saying, well, this doctor went to this school and you should share that they went to medical school here. Those things you don't feel as passionate about sharing. And so then I think when they feel good about the doctor's experience, bedside manner, and their results and they see them firsthand, it just becomes natural then for them.

Andrea (05:41):
I kind of liken it down to four main things, is that we need to create trust and build rapport and we need to educate patients and differentiate our practice. And once we've done that thoroughly and authentically, that price, it's really not that big of a deal to deliver. It's such a level above, if you're just throwing out prices and feeling awkward about it. What do you advise your teams to do when someone calls and they're like, Hey, yeah, I'm calling around. I was just wondering how much is a tummy tuck or how much is a breast augmentation?

Janelle (06:13):
We really try to avoid leading with that price, even if they come across very adamant about just getting that. And if the patients understand why you're asking questions, then it helps because really you have to start the conversation asking them things. You can't just give them pricing on a tummy tuck without understanding if that's even what they need really. And it might even be that they're asking for liposuction fees and really they need a tummy tuck. And so it's important to start by saying, really, in order for us to provide pricing for you and to get really close to what's probably what you're going to need, I have to ask you a few questions and this will make it more accurate if I'm able to ask these questions for you. And so do you have a few minutes? Because the pricing is so customized to the individual that I don't want to give you such a broad range that you don't get the information you want. And really that's such a differentiator. There's actually a lot of practices that won't even give pricing over the phone at all. They'll say you have to come in. And so if we're able to spend a few extra minutes and really dive into what is best for them, I think it'll feel good and it'll definitely feel different than other practices that they call.

Andrea (07:40):
So with your guys' practice specifically, are you publishing any prices or any price ranges? Or does all of that comes through that conversation once you've built a trust and rapport, started to educate and differentiate your practice?

Janelle (07:54):
We do put ballpark fees on our website and it's a pretty big range, and so that's where the phone call will really be helpful in order to dive in and be more specific.

Blake (08:06):
I think that's a common debate between practices on whether they post prices or ranges, someone that might be debating the other side of it. What are maybe the pros and cons that you think to not posting it? Why do you guys really choose to push that range?

Janelle (08:25):
We want to be transparent. We don't want to have any secrets. And I think for those people that have called, they say, oh, I've tried to call and they just want me to come in. It's like these prospective patients are trying to do research, they don't even know where to start. We're all busy. They don't want to come in and find out this was completely out of their range. We certainly don't want to have people coming in that can't afford our pricing, and we do offer free consults, so it's our way of hopefully filtering out some people. I think that for those that do want people to come in, it's probably because they're fearful that it might scare people away if they see the pricing and they want to be able to build that relationship and then present it, which I can understand, but at the same time, people just, we want our information, so we're impatient now. We can Google everything.

Blake (09:25):
Yeah, that's the world we're in for sure. Oh my gosh.

Janelle (09:26):
Yeah. So that's our theory.

Andrea (09:29):
And I think to set patients and your practice, to optimize your practice time as well and your doctor's time, if he's meeting with 10 people and only booking three of them because they're not fully prepared before that consultation, you're not doing anybody any favors. I'm a firm believer of clarity is kindness and the more clear that we can be, and once as patient care coordinators and the people in the practice, when we become more knowledgeable of our patient situation, we can actually serve them better. We can help them overcome any objections or hurdles, barriers to entry that they have to becoming patients.

(10:05):
So it's really important that through building that trust and rapport, we do have transparency with ranges and publishing those on websites. Ranges, a range is really important because nobody's going to just say no matter what, a tummy tuck is going to be 19,500 or whatever. That's just not realistic. And just as a side note, having pricing on your website, and I learned this when I started working for Studio 3 marketing, it does actually help your SEO as well. It means that your website is more trustworthy and more educational, and so having at least some dollar figures on there does help your SEO so that you can rank higher. Which the higher you rank of course, the more traffic you're going to get. I think everybody pretty much knows it's really better to educate patients on price ahead of time. Is there one specific reason or logic or data point that you might have, Janelle, that would help our listeners overcome their fear of doing that?

Janelle (11:03):
Well, I mean we always go by the numbers. We have very strong conversion rates for offering free consults. So if that started to dip, then we might, or even if the inquiry to appointment conversions, if we weren't making as many appointments from our inquiries, maybe we would pause and say, okay, maybe there is an opportunity to establish a relationship first. Because it's very powerful when you do get somebody in the door and they start to make those connections. But as long as our conversion data is showing that where we want to be and it's growing, then we feel like we're making the right choice doing that.

Andrea (11:49):
I'm just learning about this Marissa, which is a financing expert that's on your website. So can you just tell us about that? What does she do? How does she help you and really how does she help patients?

Janelle (12:02):
Yeah, she's one of our patient coordinators and we've given her this extra role to really be cognizant of our activity to manage those leads. She's more of the direct contact for our financing reps, and it's a lot for us having six doctors and we wanted to have one person own that area. And the other main thought behind it actually is it really presents, I think, to a patient as we've got somebody to call and have somewhat multiple people that can assist you with something, doesn't feel as much as they're a specialist in that. And so really giving them a person who we position as the specialist, I think they feel, wow, I can actually speak to someone very specifically about my payment options. I think it's the perception that it gives the patients and comfortability and also for us internally just to kind of have some of that communication streamlined through one person.

Blake (13:19):
Do other practices have a similar resource like this, or is this unique to your guys' practice, to have that dedicated resource?

Janelle (13:25):
I haven't seen anybody do it. So when we were rebuilding or kind of redoing our payment plan page several years ago, it just didn't feel like enticing enough to put on their contact one of our patient coordinators to learn more about your payment options. And so when we put a picture in somebody as the financing expert, we just really wanted to encourage that discussion and we just felt like that was a more appealing way. But I have not seen this done on any other site.

Andrea (14:03):
And I think for people listening as well that are our front desk coordinators, our patient care coordinators, our administrative and salespeople in the practice, I think a huge takeaway that you can take from this podcast and listening here is, we should always be looking for something else that we can bring to the table for our practice. And anyone listening to this could go to their manager or go to their surgeon and say, Hey, I want to be the financing expert, and I think this is why it's really important that we showcase having one point person. I want to become an expert in this. Let me talk to PatientFi, whoever it is that you have in your practice, get a relationship with your rep and become that person. Because the more that you can build those skills and the more you can showcase yourself on your practice website and say, call me, I will help walk you through this process, if this is the reason why you may be scared to call us, or you may not think that you can afford it, let me try and help you. So this is a huge takeaway I think, Janelle, and thank you for sharing that.

Blake (15:06):
And there's probably some listeners too that are in a practice where financing is a last resort. From what it sounds like, Janelle, with this new implementation or this new person that you have, maybe what type of feedback or encouragement would you give to that practice?

Janelle (15:25):
Yeah, it's funny, just when you were getting ready to ask me that question, I thought of a situation at our coordinator meeting on Monday. We have just started doing, we're really trying to get the majority of our patients before the consult to apply. And then now when we're doing a quote, we're even including the payment strategy, the calculator scenario options too. And one of the coordinators said, well, I didn't do the payment calculator worksheet for a couple people because they told me in the phone they didn't want financing. And they are asking on the phone and that's great, but I said, we still really should be giving it to them because I think when patients say that on the phone and they don't think at the time, they probably really don't believe that they're going to need a payment plan. But if you think about how I know of myself, I might get off of the phone after learning all of this information and as I digest it, go, wait, okay, if it's going to be 24,000 and I've got this coming up for my kids, or that coming up, now, actually maybe I could put this off and do a payment plan.

(16:51):
You start to kind of put everything together after you get off the phone, and/or you come into the office and you learn that it might be more than you were expecting. And this can really help bridge that gap if you were like, okay, I had in the budget 24,000 but now it's going to be 28, but I can use a payment plan, so just share it with them. And the whole point is to keep this as normal and comfortable to be having this conversation. For me, it's more you're just trying to give them all of the tools and to have a complete comprehensive conversation. So it's really at the end of the day to help the patient. And of course if they feel more comfortable and it's more affordable to them, it benefits the practice.

Andrea (17:38):
Also, I think something we talk about a lot as well is that just because someone uses financing doesn't mean they don't have the money sitting in their bank account. Maybe they want the interest free money, through a financing option so that they don't have to take the money out of their emergency savings fund or whatever. Something that you were saying on the phone, or on the phone, excuse me, something that you were mentioning earlier is about talking on the phone. We were obviously talking about that really great kind of consultative phone call that we have before we bring them in where we're building trust and rapport, we're educating, differentiating our practice, and then we're giving those price ranges. What does your team, how do you train your team to, after giving their price range, go into that conversation of potential financing?

Janelle (18:25):
Well, definitely starting by asking, is this what you were expecting or how does this all sound to you? We really like to share stories and say, a lot of our patients ask us about payment plans. It's one of our common ways of paying for surgery. And so I'm happy to share with you if you were interested this procedure, it could range anywhere from 350 to 400 per month. Would that be something you'd want to learn more about? And then going into it from there. And we've had many patients who, if our quotes are higher, they do appreciate and understand the value, but they'll choose one of our interest free plans. And that's the other thing too, we'll say, even if somebody has been saving, this is still another comfort to them. Even if they've got the money, they could write a check, they actually feel better just doing one of the interest free plans, because then it's maybe going to allow them to do sooner or there's a lot of mom guilt. I see some of the patients who are moms and they're struggling spending the money on themselves, and this is something that really helps them feel better about spending the money.

Blake (19:45):
Janelle, I want to kind of switch gears just really quickly. The thing I think a lot of us are afraid of too is what if they get denied? So they go through that application process, we've talked about it, we've positioned that value, and then it turns out that unfortunately they can't get approved, for whatever reason that may be. How do you handle that conversation or how do you teach your staff to take care of that patient in that moment?

Janelle (20:10):
We don't give up. So there might be other options in terms of, first of all, we'll have them apply for every lender possible, but also maybe using a co-signer or another person to apply on their behalf that actually people, if they're determined, they will find that person. And so sometimes exploring a bank relationship where they might already have accounts and a relationship with, that's an option. It's not a common scenario where we can't come up with some solution. I mean, we've even used the doctor financed option with PatientFi before where if they can come up with half of it, where that's sort of our requirement, if you can come up with half, we'll kind of take on the payments as

Blake (21:05):
Like a custom payment plan, right?

Janelle (21:06):
Right. So we've gotten creative with that too. But sometimes it just doesn't work, and we might just find ways to stay in touch with the patient. Or they can make payments and we can be a little bit of a savings account for them, that's another thing we've done. But thankfully it doesn't happen too often.

Andrea (21:26):
We're not talking about cheap treatments or especially when we're talking about surgery. When your team might, maybe they're young in their career, they're at the front or they're kind of a new PCC and they're not really used to talking about these large sums of money. How do you help get them comfortable with that?

Janelle (21:44):
It can be a lot. And I think, again, if we really train them on the value of what we offer, then to them it's like this is worth it. And so we just have to get them to that place. And that just comes through training I think.

Andrea (22:08):
And I'm guilty of this when I first started in this industry, if you don't have the right training and you don't have time to get comfortable with that, it's almost like you're setting this piece of paper down and it's like, I'm going to just lay this little bomb down right here, and then silence falls over the group. Because if you don't start the conversation earlier, it doesn't come as natural either, and it's dropping a bomb and okay, now what's everybody going to do? Are they going to react bad or not? What do you think other than a bomb being dropped, can go wrong if you wait until the consultation, after they've met with the doctor to start talking about money or financing?

Janelle (22:48):
I mean, it's been our philosophy for so long, and it's funny, maybe if it ever happens where somebody forgot to share the pricing, all they have to do is experience that awkwardness one time.

Blake (23:03):
One time.

Andrea (23:03):
And then never again.

Janelle (23:04):
Yeah, and I also, the other thing that we do to create a little more comfortability with that process is to not have it feel like a car dealership where you see the financing person at the end and they're like the dreaded person. And so we have the patient coordinators room the patients. A lot of them have already spoken with the patient, so they say, oh, I spoke to you on the phone and oh, hello, and it's a warm welcome, somebody they're familiar with. But then when they come back in after the consult, it's not, oh, this is Jenny here to give you the money. And they're like, oh, hey, you're about to tell me how much this costs. Instead, it's like, oh, hi Jenny, we've already met before. It just is a much more comfortable interaction. And so that is a big thing I think, to take away some of the awkwardness too. But yeah, it's hard because sometimes you hear the coordinator saying, oh my gosh, they just wrote a check for $30,000. Who has that? And that's what's hard is because some of the people working here don't have the ability to do that. And so it feels like a disconnect, being able to relate to someone who can, but at the same time, you can certainly relate to the people who don't have that, and here's all of the different tools that we can offer them.

Blake (24:29):
So Janelle, we're going to go through a little myth versus fact about patient financing. So I'm going to throw out a couple of these, and Andrea, you dispute, agree, debate, we'll go through all these as well, right?

Andrea (24:41):
Yeah, let's do it.

Blake (24:42):
Alright. So I think we've talked about this one a little bit, but just to kind of nail this one home, we should not be giving out prices over the phone.

Janelle (24:52):
Myth.

Blake (24:53):
Myth. Yeah, absolutely. Financing is a last resort for people who don't have money.

Janelle (24:58):
Myth.

Blake (24:59):
Myth. Absolutely. Having financing available to patients increases sales.

Andrea (25:05):
Absolutely.

Janelle (25:05):
True.

Blake (25:07):
Do you have maybe a short story that you can go into about patient who did everything the doctor recommended because they combined cash and maybe a payment plan? Just thinking about the holistic approach that financing can bring or allow you to really get that full solution or that full plan that patient wants or that treatment plan?

Janelle (25:32):
I think it happens a lot where a patient might present on the phone, I want to do, for example, my breasts do a breast aug and a breast lift and they get here, and as they feel comfortable and they start to, again, there's a lot of thinking that happens after the phone call to coming here. So then they probably thought, if I'm going to be going in and already doing my breasts, I should think about doing my tummy too. And so, here on the phone, they've learned about the cost for the breasts, they feel comfortable about that amount, but then they realize, okay, I'm a mom, if I'm going to go and be down and have help with my kids for a couple of weeks, I might as well make this worthwhile. And so then absolutely they will add the tummy or some of the body procedures for more of that mommy makeover. And then that's where they go, okay, I budgeted for the breast, so we talked about that on the phone, so I want to make this work, but it was a little bit more than I originally thought when I started going down this path. And so that's definitely where we've pulled out the payment options.

Blake (26:47):
Oh, absolutely. And there's got to be an increase in overall satisfaction from these patients when they do get that full treatment or they get everything that they really wanted when they see that full result at the end, how excited they must be and how financing can obviously play a huge role in that. Right?

Janelle (27:06):
Well, it's funny because money is a big barrier, but I would say the other thing is timing and finding the time to make this work in your life, whether it's taking it time off of work or around vacations and weddings and events in your life. And so if you find that perfect time with your schedule, but it's not the perfect time financially, that's where you can also go, okay, I'm going to utilize the payment plan because this is like the stars have aligned and this is the best time to do it.

Blake (27:40):
You're speaking to my heart because I was that patient before I worked in aesthetics. I had lost over a hundred pounds and I needed basically reconstruction and I had barely five and a half weeks between trips. I was traveling a lot for work, I worked in dentistry at the time. I'm oversharing here, but I just come at this from, I literally was that person where it was like, I need to have a belt lipectomy, I need to have my breasts reconstructed and some implants, but I only want one recovery and I only really have time to recover for X amount of weeks before I've got to get back on the road. I used financing and I used cash to be able to get it done in one nice little package and then move on with my life. And then I became the COO of that practice and now the rest is history. And I love this industry because I've been a patient from the outside and having experienced exactly what you just said, it's so true because it opens up the doors to fit this into people's lives in a much more effective way. So yes to everything that you said.

(28:53):
Love it. Love it.

Andrea (28:53):
Yeah.

Blake (28:55):
Alright, we'll jump back into it. So people who are prepared for the price range ahead of consultation are more likely to schedule.

Janelle (29:01):
True.

Andrea (29:02):
Absolutely.

Blake (29:02):
Offering financing costs the practice too much in processing fees.

Janelle (29:08):
No, no.

Blake (29:10):
No. Why is that? So maybe it's a newer practice coming into financing or it's a practice that just never wanted to get into it cuz they thought cost was too high. Why is this a myth?

Janelle (29:21):
You've got to establish a strategy to absorb those fees and really honestly, you're doing more activity as a result and you can avoid maybe discounting if they're doing a payment plan. And so the fees for processing just shouldn't be a barrier because you're going to convert more people and they're going to spend more.

Andrea (29:46):
Do you guys do cash discount?

Janelle (29:50):
No, definitely not. And we lead with a full price quote and then under the assumption that they might use a payment plan, and then if they are going to pay by cash or credit card, they might be eligible for other discounts. And so it was really hard when we led with the discounted quote for multiple procedures or former patient and then tried to absorb that with the payment plan. And we couldn't take it away then. Once we said, here's the price for doing all these procedures together and you get a discount for doing them together, oh, but if you use a payment plan, then you can't combine that. It's just much better to lead with the full price and then determine their payment strategy and give them the opportunity, like you said, cash discount if that's the route they're going.

Andrea (30:42):
It's all in how are things being received. And we want our patients to have a clear view and then we get to be the hero if we then provide a discount because we're more aware of how they're planning to pay.

Blake (30:54):
Yeah.

Andrea (30:55):
You look like the asshole ,to be completely honest.

Blake (30:57):
Yeah.

Andrea (30:58):
If you're going to start charging them fees because they're going to take advantage of these tools that you're providing them as options. We want to be the heroes, not the asshole. Right?

Blake (31:07):
I think it starts breaking that trust too. If you start to, it's that the same idea.

Janelle (31:12):
Oh, but this, but not if that, and then it's confusing.

Andrea (31:14):
The bait and switch.

Blake (31:16):
You don't need to waste time with it. There's already so much to talk about. Let's not waste time debating that or having that kind of conversation.

Janelle (31:22):
Right.

Blake (31:24):
All patient financing options are pretty much the same.

Andrea (31:27):
No.

Janelle (31:27):
Not even close.

Blake (31:30):
I'm obviously a little bit biased where I'm coming from, but I think it's really important, right? You need to research these lenders and put 'em through the ringer and put us up against everybody. I think you need to do that, right? Make sure that you look at all the pros and cons of every single one. Ask them the difficult questions and make sure that they really represent your brand. I think you're going to pass off a patient and then now they're going to work with this lending company and you want them to have as good or better of an experience working with them as they do with your practice, which you obviously have more control over. The last thing you want to do is hand them off to someone that just doesn't really care or maybe outsources their call centers or whatever it is, and it's just not a great experience for everyone involved.

Janelle (32:13):
Well, it's back to the trust. They're trusting us to guide them in the right direction and they will hold us responsible if they feel like they were steered down a path that was not in their best interest.

Andrea (32:27):
Yeah. One other thing I want to mention is that they're not all created equal in the way that they have different qualifications for getting approvals and they have different approval max rates. And so as a patient care coordinator or somebody in the practice that's trying to overcome objections and get over those hurdles and barriers to entry for your patients, you really need to understand how each different financing option in aesthetics approves their patients and the amounts that they approve for. Because I went through this exercise and applied for the four major financing options that are in aesthetics because I really want to be able to help my clients help their patients. And it is absolutely incredible the different amounts and the different plans that are available through each option. And so if you're a practice and somebody wants a mommy makeover and they said, I've got $5,000 cash and the mommy makeover is going to cost $38,000, what you need to know is there are certain lenders, certain financing options that they only approve up to maybe 20 or $25,000. There's other options out there that prove, approve up to $50,000. Of course that's going to depend on your credit, your debt to income ratio, things like that. But what's really important is that you're giving your patients the right tool to overcome the objection and the barrier that they have.

Janelle (33:52):
So when we first, for years, when we first put up our financing page, we through every lender that we work with on there. And I think the thought behind that was to really show them we have so many different options and to give them the confidence that there would be a solution, one didn't work, that there'd be another, but we're pretty much down to just one preferred lender now because we really want to keep this super simple for them and really just, it's already so difficult to give them all of the information we're trying to give them. And then if you complicate the financing conversation, it's overwhelming for them. It's an easier conversation, as they go, wait, where should I go? Who should I apply with? And then you have to go into this whole why choose which one. And so we found that that really simplified the conversation too.

Blake (34:48):
Well, I think that is the perfect segue into this next one, which is it doesn't matter which financing program we suggest first. What do you guys think of that one?

Andrea (34:58):
Wrong.

Janelle (34:58):
Wrong.

Blake (35:00):
I think it kind of goes back to some of the things we talked, like harking back to your brand, and when the experience that you're trying to maintain or create for patients. All those really need to align with any kind of third party that you're going to bring into this. I think it's a very sensitive interaction and this relationship that you're trying to create and bringing in a third party now can really change a lot of things. And you want to make sure that you're in control of that as much as you possibly can. So again, really put your lenders through the ringer. Read reviews. That's probably one of the simplest things you can do right away. Just do a quick Google search and see what are people really saying about these people and is that conducive to what I'm trying to do? Checking credit hurts my patients' credit score.

Janelle (35:50):
Myth.

Blake (35:52):
Myth. Right? I think everybody now, I think all lenders right now are probably on that soft inquiry. So that one across the board doesn't matter who you use. Alright. On this podcast, Janelle, we do have kind of a segment at the end that we love, it's called "She Did What?" And it's basically just a segment that it could be anything, a crazy story with a patient, maybe something a staff member did that was amazing. It could be good or bad, doesn't have to be either way. But we do sometimes love the drama. So whatever you have, we'd love to hear it if you have it. Just to put you on the spot.

Janelle (36:26):
Yeah. Oh, there's so much in my archive.

Blake (36:28):
I know, right?

Janelle (36:29):
I mean, I have to tell you, being a practice manager, I joked with another one in the industry. It's like you can't make this stuff up. And so the way you get through your day is like I said to my friend, let's just start a podcast about this stuff.

Blake (36:50):
Just talk about it.

Janelle (36:51):
So every time somebody does something throughout the day, instead of getting frustrated, I just go, thank you for the podcast content.

Andrea (37:00):
Yeah,

Blake (37:01):
Exactly.

Andrea (37:03):
So you've got a huge list.

Blake (37:04):
Got to monetize it.

Andrea (37:05):
Yeah. You have a huge list to pull from here for.

Janelle (37:07):
I know, I know.

Blake (37:09):
It's hard to pull, it's actually sometimes it's hard to pull one when you have so many of those, right? But what do you have?

Janelle (37:14):
We had a doctor join us and brought in a couple of his team members, a patient coordinator, and their pricing was a bit lower than ours. And I think that that was how they converted, was leading with price and competing on price. And so when this patient coordinator would deliver quotes, she was uncomfortable because it was more expensive. And so she put it in front of the patient and she's like, I know it's a lot, right? And she was so uncomfortable with it and then acknowledged it, and we're like, no, don't say that.

Blake (37:58):
Don't, don't say that.

Janelle (37:59):
Don't say that. And so to your point earlier, do they get uncomfortable? Yes. And this was 10 plus years ago. And obviously we've learned we've got to do really good training to make sure that they know why it is more, and that there's a very good reason. It means there's more safety and quality. But yeah, it was one of those, I'm just going to go under my desk and hide and cringe right now.

Blake (38:30):
Just cringe. Janelle, thank you so much for everything today. It's been fantastic. I think there's probably four or five at least actionable things that I think a coordinator that's listening to this podcast could take and implement today. And if anyone out there has a question for Janelle, feel free to go to practicelandpodcast.com and send us a message and we'll make sure it gets to Janelle and get you connected.

Andrea (38:56):
And we're just so thankful, Janelle, that you joined us and shared your expertise with us and with our listeners. The more we can learn from each other, the better we can get through our days and serve more people as well.

Janelle (39:08):
Agree. Thank you for having me.

Blake (39:11):
Thank you. Got a wild customer service story or a sticky patient situation? Send us a message or voicemail. If your tale makes it into our "She did what?" segment, we'll send a thank you gift you'll actually love. Promise no cheap swag here.

Andrea (39:24):
Are you one of us? Subscribe for new episode notifications and more at practicelandpodcast.com. New episodes drop weekly on YouTube and everywhere you can listen to podcasts.