Generating leads on your chiropractic website requires a concerted effort between the marketing side of your website and the sales side. The two sides work together to gently, but surely, move your prospective patient from awareness (i.e. “What is this?”) to purchase (i.e. “I want to book an appointment right now”).
In this post, we’ll break down exactly what it takes to turn your website into the ultimate salesperson for your chiropractic practice.
Here are the terms you need to know:
Sales Funnel
A sales funnel may seem like a funny term to use for a chiropractic practice. After all, you’re a healthcare professional who’s treating physical conditions and relieving pain. You’re not a salesperson or marketer. And you’re not selling a product.
But, in a sense, you are. The chiropractic service that you provide is your product.
And your patients are your customers because they’re purchasing services from you.
While you may not think of yourself as running a traditional business, it’s useful to think in traditional sales and marketing terms. You can apply these proven sales and marketing strategies to effectively grow your chiropractic practice.
Whether they’re buying alarm clocks or alignments, consumers take a similar path. This path is known as the sales funnel.
What is a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is also known as a purchasing funnel. It’s a metaphorical term that describes your prospect’s path to becoming a patient with you.
Understanding your sales funnel is critical. If you don’t know how the sales funnel works, you won’t be able to create a website that attracts and converts new patients to your chiropractic practice.
There are several ways you can slice and dice a sales funnel but, for the sake of simplicity, we’ll break it down into three stages: Top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel.
Let’s break down these stages to learn more about them.
The top of the sales funnel
The top of the funnel is the awareness stage. During this stage, your prospective patient becomes aware of their problem and seeks to educate themselves about it.
Let’s say your prospective patient is experiencing back pain. They do a quick Google search that asks, “What’s causing my back pain?” Coincidently, you’ve written a blog post with that very title. Your prospective patient sees your post on the Google search results page and decides to click on your link. They’re taken to your website where they have a chance to learn more about the possible causes of their back pain.
At this point, some visitors will naturally filter themselves out. From reading your blog post, they’ll discover that their back pain came from moving furniture and that the pain will likely go away with rest so there’s no need to schedule an appointment.
Other visitors will recognize their symptoms in your blog post and be compelled to learn more about the services you provide. These visitors may sign up for your free eBook to learn more about their particular back pain. At this point, the website visitor turns into a marketing-qualified lead. They also take the next step down.
The next step is called “lead nurturing.” (There are two steps at the top of the sales funnel: Awareness and nurturing.)
During the lead nurturing step, you educate your marketing qualified lead about their problem and on the solution that you provide (i.e. your services).
In addition to your blog, there are many other ways to educate your lead. This can include social media posts, podcasts, YouTube videos, and email newsletters.
The middle of the sales funnel
The middle of the funnel is the evaluation stage. Your lead graduates to this stage once they’ve become fully aware of the problem and the solution. Remember that first-time visitors can already be at this stage of a sales funnel when they arrive on your website. That’s because they may have educated themselves about the topic on another website, and are now ready to compare your service to your competitors.
During the middle of the funnel, you should provide content that helps the lead understand why you’re the right choice. You may offer a webinar that discusses a common chiropractic problem or point leads to your frequently asked questions page.
This stage is all about confronting and eliminating the lead’s doubts.
The bottom of the sales funnel
The bottom of the funnel is where the magic happens. This is the stage where you’re trying to convert the lead into a patient.
Up until this point, you’ll rely on marketing. But when a lead gets to this point, you must switch over to sales mode. You actively push an online booking. You may contact the lead directly or reach out through your live chat module. And you may offer different types of services in addition to your in-person chiropractic care.
For example, you may give your sales lead the option to book a telehealth appointment, which is becoming a popular alternative for non-critical or non-urgent conditions.
Marketing Qualified Lead
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a person who’s shown interest in your chiropractic services and is more likely than other people (i.e. the general population) to become a patient. An MQL has engaged in some activity on your website. For example, this person may sign up for your email newsletter.
A website visitor becomes a marketing qualified lead during the awareness and evaluation stages.
Sales Qualified Lead
A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a marketing lead who’s further down the funnel. They’re either in the evaluation stage or they’re ready to purchase. An SQL has already been nurtured and now they’re ready to convert. However, they probably won’t convert without a little nudge. After all, leads at this stage are pros at talking themselves out of a purchase. They’re capable of purchasing, but they’ll hesitate because they’re not completely sure that they’re making the right move. An SQL needs to be reassured. You can do that through free consultations or offering some other value (like a coupon for new patients).
Key Takeaways
It’s important to note that your prospective patients may arrive on your website at any stage of the funnel. Some won’t know anything about chiropractic therapy. Others will know a little but are shopping around for the right doctor.
Your website should be able to speak to all prospective patients, no matter what stage they are in the sales funnel. If your website fails to reach a lead because you haven’t created enough content for that stage of the funnel, you may lose that lead forever.
If you try to force a prospect to purchase when they’re still in the awareness stage, you’re going to be disappointed with the results. Your prospect will feel rushed. They will likely lose trust in you. And they certainly won’t convert before they’re ready to. Your sales team will likewise be frustrated because they’re wasting time on a prospect who’s not ready.
However, if you understand the sales funnel, properly track where your prospective patients are in that funnel, and ensure that you have adequate content to nurture the patient during that stage in the funnel, you’ll be able to convert them in time.
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