Your digital marketing strategy is working. You have plenty of prospective patients and their families contacting your autism care center and keeping your intake team busy. But are these new patient leads calling you the right fit for your program?

Every autism treatment center is unique, with care and programs that are a better fit and provide greater benefits for some patients than others. You only want to bring in clients that will thrive at your autism treatment center. So how do you find that ideal client?

Qualifying your leads is how you can make sure prospective clients are right for your autism treatment center.

Why Qualify Autism Treatment Center Leads?

The term “qualifying your leads” sounds a bit commercial, and you may feel resistant to putting this type of system in place. After all, shouldn’t you be trying to help everyone?

Yes—but sometimes helping clients means recommending a different treatment center where they’ll be more comfortable if your program isn’t the best fit for their needs. If you aren’t qualifying your leads, you won’t know until it’s too late whether they’re a good fit for your autism treatment center or another one. In that scenario, no one wins.

While serving the client is your primary goal, there are other benefits to qualifying leads.¹ Some of the most significant advantages are time management and efficiency. When your staff quickly determines whether a prospective patient is (or isn’t) a fit for your center, they can focus their efforts on scheduling them for a consultation or, if necessary, recommending another care center.

Your intake team also learns relevant, valuable information when they qualify leads. Whether a lead converts or not, they hear directly from the client or caregiver what their pain points are and what kind of help they need. Data like this helps your center deliver better treatment solutions for clients who need your services.

The practice of qualifying leads also builds a great foundation with new clients and their caregivers. Your leads get to speak with someone on the phone who’s interested in hearing about their challenges and is excited to offer solutions. For many guardians and adults with autism, conversations like these are few and far between.

Qualifying Your Leads

Qualifying a lead isn’t as simple as one phone conversation. This type of communication requires systematic planning and a dedicated team to execute the process successfully. Today we’re taking a look at four basic steps to get you started on qualifying your leads.

Step 1: Assemble a Helpful Team

The people answering new lead calls at your autism treatment center have to be great listeners who are friendly and eager to provide help. In addition, they should be well-versed in your care options and be able to confidently discuss all aspects of your center with clients and caregivers.

The team members should also be comfortable reading from and staying on script.

Step 2: Write a Script

No matter how great your intake team is, they need a script. Think of this dialogue as your list of expectations—the information you need to learn from every call to qualify a lead. These qualifying questions should be open-ended² and invite the prospective client to share.

Obviously, the intake team’s conversations shouldn’t be entirely dictated or driven by marketing goals. Let your team know going off script is fine when necessary. They should always follow the natural flow of conversation and be responsive to the unique needs of the person they’re speaking with.

But collecting qualification data requires some boilerplate language. Gathering that information by asking each of your pre-determined qualifying questions is a top priority for every call. Your team can learn a lot from the answers to these questions, even if the prospective patient isn’t the right fit for your care program.

Step 3: Find Out What Clients Need

Begin qualification calls with the goal of discovering the potential client’s pain points. Establishing a rapport lays an excellent foundation for the rest of the conversation. The caller will recognize that understanding their issues and matching them with an effective program or care is your top priority.

During this part of the conversation, record the client’s age, gender, and any previous diagnoses, as those factors can play a significant role in qualification.

Step 4: Find Out If They’re Ready

Your team should also address how soon the prospective client would like to pursue care and what type of insurance they have. Confirming callers have the authority to seek treatment, either as a consenting adult or as the guardian of an individual with an autism spectrum disorder, is also important.

A Good Website Makes a Great First Impression

Qualifying leads is a great way to help your prospective patients and their caregivers more quickly determine whether or not your autism treatment center is the right fit for their needs, and remove barriers to care for your clients. If you’d like to learn more about how you can start qualifying your center’s leads, Dreamscape Marketing can help. Call us at 888.307.7304 to schedule a strategy session to discuss the best way to get started qualifying your leads and helping more clients today.

 

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