Understanding Your Selling Value in Price Sensitive Medical Tourism Market

Overview

How much does it cost? The one question most commonly used by medical tourism consumers which automatically leads into a low price war among medical provider in this highly competitive marketplace.

Cost considerations are often at the top of the list when it comes to consumers seeking the best value for any service or product, combined with a desire for quality. Medical consumers are especially conscious of quality, results and effectiveness of medical treatments and procedures both domestically and abroad.

Still “how much is this going to cost me?” tends to be one of the first thing that goes through a patient’s mind when she finds out she needs surgery, or he wants a nose job.

The art of selling your medical services for a higher value is understanding a key element about the medical tourism process. Selling is all about doing the right homework up-front and attempting to get it right the first time.

Healthcare service providers need to delay that one question until other, more important issues can be discussed, which will provide a perspective patient with the information, options, and resources that result in a successful sale of products or services.

Health care providers need to realize that cost is not the only consideration that determines whether or not a consumer makes a decision regarding a facility, treatment or procedure. However, few patients realize how much medical services cost, from laboratory tests, to equipment and technology used in a procedure, to hospitalization or follow-up care costs.

Determining Patient Needs

When discussing services, products or prices with prospective patients, it’s important to understand what they’re looking for and what they hope to accomplish with the procedure or service. Some of the most basic questions to ask may include:

• Why do you want or need this treatment?
• What aspect of your medical care is most important?
• When do you need this procedure?
• What will happen if you don’t have the procedure at this time?
• What information will you need to make a final decision?

Healthcare providers are advised to avoid falling into the “how much does it cost” scenario at the beginning of any conversation or communication with a prospective patient. First, providers need to determine the needs of the patient and match them with the products or services you or your facility offers them.

To work around that “how much does it cost” scenario at the beginning of any issue, healthcare providers can take a few proactive steps to help guide communication into learning more about the patient and his or her needs. Comments such as:

• What are your present options?
• What are your desired treatment outcomes?
• How important is quality and experience in your decision?
• Are you looking for best quality at reasonable or affordable prices, or are you only concerned with experience?
• Are you concerned regarding follow-up care, guarantees, or warranties on procedures or outcomes?

Such questions may help guide the potential patient toward understanding that cost is only a small portion of the overall care scenario. However, medical providers should also keep in mind that the longer a person takes to make up his mind about a service, the less chance you have of making a sale.

For example, studies have determined that at the advent of any selling process, providers have a 100% chance of closing the deal after first communication with the customer. If the customer calls back a second time, the chances of closing that deal decreases to about 70%. At the third or fourth communication, you may have a 50/50 chance of acquiring that patient.

Closing the Deal

In order to enhance your chances of acquiring that patient as quickly as possible:

Provide transparent information regarding a patient’s questions and concerns.

Don’t minimize their concerns regarding procedures, facilities, certifications or experience.

Avoid the “how much does it cost” question at the beginning of a conversation by gently guiding the potential client into discussing his or her needs, expected outcomes and desires.

Give them options.

Keep the conversation going and require specific answers, which will help you determine the emotional buying needs of every client, and then deal with cost issues and options.

 Pramod Goel