Get 50% Down When Scheduling

Hi, this is Dave Kats with Therapist Consultants and I have a tip for you.

One of the things you can do to get new patients to show up after they make the appointment is to ask them to put 50% down to hold the appointment. That may sound strange if you've never done it before, but lots of therapists are doing it. When a patient calls in, they ask for an appointment you say, "Okay. I have a time available today because I've had a cancellation this afternoon, or I have an appointment on Friday. Which do you prefer?" They say, "I'll take today." You say, "Okay. I'll put you down for four 'o clock today then, however in order to hold that appointment I ask that you put 50% down so you'll need to put $75 down. Which credit card would you like to put that on?" They give you the credit card. Now I don't care if you run their credit card or not, actually we suggest that you hold that credit card and not run it unless they don't show up and then, run the whole amount when they do show up for their first session, but whether you run it then or whether you run it when they come in later doesn't make much difference. The idea is once you get the 50% down, people show up. I had one client that said, "I was working with patients and I was getting 50% down." He said, "I didn't have a new patient no show me for five months." Then, he said, "I was driving home one day, and a patient called and I took it on my cellphone, and I scheduled them as a new patient because I was driving I didn't ask for the credit card information. That was the first new patient that no showed me in five months." Get that 50% down, and I think you'll find that you get a lot more show up rate, a lot better show up rate with new patients now and in the future.

This is Dave Kats. Thanks for listening.