Expert Offliners Only-Quick Question

It's hard to give advice here without knowing the market. I'd say start with the smallest and/or the newest companies you can find... those who have been in business for the least amount of time.

I should have mentioned it....it's in the dental niche. I know a lot of these practices are extremely busy, but there has to be people out there who need more business!

Don't ask them. Give them the leads....send them the calls..and THEN call them to start the sale. It should be easier that way.

Let them know somehow who you sent...whether it's by giving the persons name if you recorded the conversation (don't tell them you recorded it) or the phone number...and tell them how many you sent and when.

I'm not going to tell you what to say to start the conversation you should be able to figure that out. But my main advice is to pick a prospect you want to work with and send them a few calls without asking and then call them.

They are lying to you. This is because people are skeptical and they don't want to get ripped off. They've been surviving all this time without you. They don't know you, and they don't trust you. That's OK.

Find prospects who will accept some free leads from you, and will give you feedback like MaxwellB suggests. Establish credibility this way. Then you can charge for the leads.

Ah... the good ole dental niche. I feel your pain.

They are pitched often and hard.

Pull a screen print of the calls from your control panel. Print it out. Hand write something to the effect:

## People Have Called my website looking for a dentist in YOURCITY.

SCREENSHOT


Only problem is I have no where to send them.

Can you help?

If you have room in your practice for more patients, let me know so I can start sending people to you.

Call me : Number

Sign off.

===========

Pick 10 dentist offices. Make a hand written copy for each one. Go to UPS or FEDEX and get some cardboard envelopes (Free), stuff your in 1 piece print out, Address it as if you were going to send it to them in the mail, but instead hand deliver each one....

Tell the receptionist: "Hey, Can you give this to DR. XYZ? I was going to mail it, but I was in the area and figured I'd just drop it off. Thanks."

Get her name, then follow up with her on the phone a few days later and ask if the Dr. is around and has a second to talk.


EDIT: The problem with sending the leads to a dentist first for free is that the dentist will only talk to the lead after they book the appointment...

The receptionist will be the one handling the calls, and will not likely tell the dr.. "hey Dental Leads Inc has been sending us leads for free".

I have seen some very good information above. I think that what needs to be done if you are cold calling is to warm-up the busy receptionist with questions that create connection. I know this is a long term strategy and may not close the sale on the first call but having a friend in the office never hurts. Find a way to make his/her life easier and you will have a good contact for future promotion. She/he will be the one to talk to the dentist on your behalf. Need some information on what to say then PM me. Hope this helps!

Thanks everyone for the input....much appreciated. Looks like I need to change my approach!

And yes, the dental niche is a tough one. In all my dealings with them, I have probably spoke to 1 actual dentist. Even if they become a paying client. Every other time is a office manager or receptionist...

I mostly deal with the service industry. Much easier to deal with and always need leads.

HI there,

I'll give you a sneaky trick.

Go to your local library and find old Golden Pages, they're called Yellow Pages in the states - yes, I said phone books - and find dentist ads that are no longer running, or the phone number is disconnected.

Make sure the dentist is out of business.

Then, call your prospect. Tell them you are closing down the dental office of so-and-so and the old phonebook ad is still bringing in customers even though you closed the office. Ask them if they're interested in these PATIENTS.

Not leads - "PATIENTS".

Structure it in the language of dentists and watch your business explode.

All the best,

Sasha.

Great idea Sasha!!! Ohhh, I like that one!

Also, another idea--have you connected with dentists on LinkedIn?

I know there are many of them hanging out there and VERY easy to get access to. Furthermore, you're not coming in as a "questionable person", they can easily check out your profile and see what you're all about...give it a shot, I'm sure it'll give you easy access to Dentists who would be open to what you have to offer!

While I'm all for creative twists on strategies, I'd stay away from anything that would require you to sacrifice your integrity on the altar of success.

Aka...lying or misleading prospects.

Now to my point.

It's so tough in the dental niche, because they're all so much smarter than the rest of us mere mortals (yeah right), but you can still make it work.

Sounds like what you have on your hands is one of two problems (or maybe both.)

Potential Issue #1: You may just need to get your offer in front of the actual dentist. Of course that always increases your chance for success exponentially, so no life-changing advice there.

However, any medical professional such as a dentist, chiropractor or surgeon is getting hit with multiple offers and sale calls all day. It's a tough industry to break into if you're starting cold.

Plus, because they get hit with so many offers, even if you get the doctor on the phone or meet in person, you still have to work really hard to build a relationship of trust and respect that opens their mind to believing and accepting patient referrals for a fee.

Oh yeah, that's how they view it. They are not buying leads, customers or clients. They are paying for patient referrals.

At the end of the day, you really need to come up with a good plan that puts you in front of the dentist and become a real person to them instead of a voice on the phone.

Become a polite and professional stalker. Find their facebook page or linkedin profile and find out where they hang out or memberships that they belong to and figure out how you "bump" into them.

The medical niches get hit hard by pharm. and marketing companies so you need to really stand out with your effort to get your offer in front of them.

Potential Issue #2: No positioning or poor positioning. The longer I'm in the consulting business, I realize that I couldv'e saved myself a ton of stress, burnout and aggravation by developing a strategy that positioned me correctly in the eyes of my ideal prospect.

Does it take more work to do it? Yes, but once you figure it out, you have a truly sustainable business.

How about getting going to odesk or freelancer.com and finding a expert who deals in compiling lists or a virtual assistant to help. Then, have them search through local chamber of commerce websites, facebook pages or linked in profiles and your dental licensing agency to find the home address of the dentist.

Then, setup a simple video landing page with a video explaining what you have to offer the dentist and why they should accept your patient referrals for a nominal fee. List your phone number, email or contact you webform on the webpage.

You could even create some banner ads and use retargetting for the dentist that visit your website to get your offer in front of them on other websites that they visit online for as long or as frequently as you want.

That's what the big boys do.

Lastly, put together a direct mail campaign to send out one postcard a week for 12 weeks directing the dentist to the url for that special webpage you setup. If you have it, you can even send a shock and awe package.

Will all this take work?

Heck yes! But is it worth it.

When you're making $50 per lead, darn right it is.

Hope this helps and inspires,

Chris

It is probably the script.

And even with the right script, a 5-10% conversion rate for free leads in a very targeted market is the most you can aim for.

My suggestion - look for dentists that are already paying for leads. See who comes up in adwords. They are paying $ 2-10 (at least) per click whether they call or not!

A quick google search for dentist leads fond a few sites that are selling leads to dentists
New Patients from 1-800-DENTIST® - Pay-Per-Lead
Dental Office Marketing Directories for High-Value New Patient Lead Generation - Guaranteed Results!
- Home

There are plenty of dentists that market aggressively in Local papers, billboards, buss stops, radio etc. Those are some of your best prospects.

My mastermind group is doing a Pay Per Call Lead training tomorrow night 4-17 with Mark Helton who has been doing some increadible stuff with Pay Per Call (4/17)
There are some spots available and would be happy to open it up to people in the thread that are interested in Pay Per Call.

Mastermind Registration: CL Crusher Pay Per Call Training


Basil

Thank you to everyone for the help!