From consultation to treatment: raising your conversion rate.

Why consultations stall

Patients who book a consultation for a self-pay treatment are already interested. If they leave without a decision, it is rarely because they are unwilling. More often, the conversation ended without a clear next step: no concrete price, no package, no date – and nobody who follows up.

That is not a sales problem in the pushy sense. It is a structural problem. Patients need clear information to decide, and many teams are understandably reluctant to talk about money.

Sample calculation: from 40 to 55 percent

All figures in euros. The logic works in any currency.

The same number of enquiries, the same marketing budget – and more than €40,000 additional gross profit a year. To achieve the same through marketing alone, the practice would need significantly more enquiries, and they would have to be converted too.

Five levers

1. A consultation guide. Same structure every time: concern, findings, options, recommendation, price, next step.
2. Clear prices and packages. State prices confidently and in writing. Packages – for example three sessions – make decisions easier and help you plan your calendar.
3. A written proposal the same day. Summarise the recommendation, price and possible dates.
4. Follow-up within 48 hours, by a named person in the team, with a short, friendly question – not a hard sell.
5. Record the reasons for “no”. Price, timing, fear, comparison with others: after three months, you know where to start.

How to measure it

• Conversion rate per month and per treatment type.
• Time to decision: days from consultation to first treatment.
• Follow-up rate: share of open proposals followed up within 48 hours.

All three belong in your monthly practice cockpit.