How to Convert Web Leads and Build a High-Converting Website

Which do you think is more valuable – a web lead or a phone lead?

A web lead is more valuable because it can come in anytime, day or night, vs. a phone call that could be missed and go to voicemail. Also, with a proper web lead form on your website, you get valuable pertinent patient information such as name, phone number, email, concern, etc. You can also track where the lead came from, so you know how your website or landing page is performing. 

Did you know?

• A web lead is 7x more likely to convert if contacted within the first hour 
• 45% of all patient inquiries are never even followed up with at all 
• The average aesthetics practice generates 52% of their leads from their website. That’s more than patient referrals, social media, physician referrals and traditional marketing combined! 

The quicker you respond to a web lead, the less time prospective clients have to research your competitors.  With costs per lead ranging from $150+ for a medspa and $500+ for a surgical practice, you can’t afford to leave that kind of money on the table! 

Converting Web Leads 

Before we dive into response timing and protocols, here are a few questions to consider:

• Do you know what percentage of your leads are coming from your website? 
• Do you track these leads? 
• How quickly do you respond to inquiries?
• Do you have a clear, concise process for follow-up?
• Do you have a dedicated person on staff to handle this? 
• Do you enter them in your practice management system?

If you answered no to these questions, you are not alone. One of the biggest reasons we created the Clarity Practice Performance System was to educate and provide sales training to your entire team. We go into depth with a comprehensive course dedicated to training your entire team, with specific modules focused on the front desk team in converting web leads in addition to phone skills, qualifying, credentialing providers as well as the practice, asking the right questions,  handling objections and ultimately converting them. To learn more about this sales training course, you can book a discovery call here.

How to Respond to Web Leads

Keep in mind that website leads are generally “cold” leads which means the prospective client likely found your practice doing a Google or online search for a particular treatment or procedure, was not referred by anyone, and is likely cost-conscious and comparison shopping. They also may have anxiety about results, downtime, pain, recovery, anesthesia, etc. 

It is always more challenging to convert these cold leads, so quick response time and being able to clearly communicate your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) and credential both your providers and the practice are critical.

Example Website Contact Form

First things first. Your website MUST contain a contact form with the following information so you can track, follow up, and convert the lead:

• Name
• Email
• Phone number
• Source tracking (landing page they entered form submission)
• A place to indicate what service/procedure they are interested in or area of concern
• Have an autoresponder set up that is triggered once they submit the form. 

Timing and Response Protocol

If possible, you should have someone on staff assigned to monitor web leads as they come in in real-time to optimize your conversion rates. Of course, we know this is not always feasible. At the very least, you should have someone checking on web leads at regular intervals throughout the day. 

Within the 1st Hour (if possible):

• Call the client
• Immediately send an email
• Enter the contact into your patient management software (PMS)
• Follow up with SMS (text) through PMS

Within 48 Hours:

• Call again
• Send another email
• Send another SMS message

Within 1 Week:

• Call one more time
• Send a final email
• Send a final SMS message

After a week, you can simply keep their information for your mailing list for upcoming newsletters or events/promotions going on in your practice.  

Note: It is important to not leave a detailed message on a voicemail or answering machine regarding what the prospective patient inquired about as that may be sensitive information.

Automated Email Responder

Your autoresponder email should be both friendly and informative, welcoming the prospect to your practice and assuring them someone will be following up with them within an hour at the latest. Again, having someone designated to monitor web leads in real time, each hour, or at least several times throughout the day will help increase the likelihood the lead will convert to a booked consultation. 

Phone Call

Calling the prospect (ideally within the hour) is the first step as mentioned above. 

Follow-Up Email Etiquette

If the prospect is unreachable by phone, the next step is to send a personalized follow-up email. Best practices include:

• Personalizing the email to each client. Use the name field for a personal touch vs a generic greeting.
• Be professional in your dialogue. Do not be too casual in your greeting or closing as this may make the prospect feel unimportant. Make sure you proof these emails to ensure proper grammar and spelling. 
• Ensure privacy in your email subject line while creating a call to action. An example of this is Subject: Appointment Request with Dr. (name) or “Follow-Up Request with Dr. (name)
• Include an introduction of who you are, what your role is, what you do, and why this information is important to them
• Answer any specific questions they mentioned in their inquiry and provide additional resources (like to a page on your website, procedure information, a brochure, or video about your practice
• Have a strong call to action asking the prospect to schedule a consultation or appointment and be sure to include your hours, phone number and any consultation fee
• Finally, always include a privacy notice at the bottom of the email. 

We get so many requests for exact email scripts or templates to use. While we usually reserve these for our Clarity Practice Performance System members, we wanted to share a sample script and privacy notice with you here.  

Sample Email Script

Hi Pam,

My name is Joanne, the (Title) at ABC Aesthetics. Thank you so much for contacting our office. We are happy to assist you.

You indicated in your inquiry you were interested in skin tightening; that is great and we are here to help. I tried reaching you via phone, however was unsuccessful. Is there a good time for me to contact you?  

To ensure we provide you with the highest quality of care, we require all clients to come in for a 30-minute consultation. During your consultation, you will have the opportunity to meet with one of our board-certified medical providers to discuss your concerns. From there, they will determine the best course of treatment for you and develop a customized treatment plan specific to your needs. The cost of the consultation is $X, which will be applied toward your treatment/procedure/surgery once booked. 

Our hours of operation are Monday – Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. Please call our office at 213-555-1212 to schedule a consultation.

We look forward to meeting you. 

Sincerely,

Joanne Smith

Patient Care Coordinator, ABC Aesthetics

(Attach information), link to a video, the website page, or anything that is of value and the patient doesn't have to go find it.

Sample Privacy Notice

"Email communications from ABC Aesthetics may contain Protected Health Information and are intended for the recipient only. Email in plain text is not encrypted or otherwise secured and may be routed across multiple servers. If you are sharing Protected health Information or are concerned about the privacy of your email message, please be aware that there is a risk of third-party interception. Consider calling our office instead at 213-555-1212 to arrange an alternate method to share your information. By continuing this correspondence, you acknowledge all the risks of communication over an unencrypted email, and it is acceptable to you."

Tips for a High-Converting Website

Now that you have a basic cadence for responding to web leads, we recommend you take a close look at your website because let’s face it, if a prospect googles you and the land on your website and it is difficult to navigate or looks bad and unprofessional, and or does not convey the right messages and value proposition they are not going to bother filling out a contact form at all. 

Your website is your storefront in today's digital age and your first point of marketing. Potential clients go look at your website to see before/after photos, watch videos, and get an idea of the types of procedures/services you offer.

You want your website to be unique and stand out – not look cookie cutter and the same as everyone else’s – it should really represent who you are as a practice and show patients why they should come to you. 

It’s important to invest in your website and put the necessary energy into it to make it unique so you will have a high conversion rate. Your website is your first point of marketing. 

Invest in a company that niches specifically in the aesthetic space – a company that knows the ideal target client, understands the industry lingo, common search terms, SEO, brand image, messaging and has professional copywriters. Don’t try to do it yourself. 

If you already have a website, it may be time to rebrand or redesign it if it does not meet the following criteria:

1. Homepage

Your homepage should convey your general brand image and is the very first impression a potential patient has with your practice. It is important that your homepage reflects your brand identity and has valuable content that's aesthetically pleasing. Your homepage should contain:

• Your logo
• Brand colors
• Convey your brand voice
• Be easy-to-follow
• Have a clear call-to-action for them to take the next step (call, send an inquiry, etc.)
• Tell your story. This is often missing. Your homepage should convey who you are; what you're about; what you offer; how you do things differently; and why you do what you do. 

You want it to be very clear to somebody who goes to your website that it represents you as a provider as you are trying to acquire patients for life, not just a one-time procedure or service. You want your homepage to resonate and show them they will fit into your practice. 

2. Before and after gallery

Your before/after gallery is generally the very next place a potential client will go to view your work, so you want to make sure those are high-quality photos. 

• If you are starting out and do not have any before and after photos yet, you can get some from the product vendors as placeholders. 

• Another way to build up your gallery if you are starting out is to offer some free services to friends or family in exchange for photos for your site. 

You can build this gallery up over time and continue to add more and more photos as you go along.

3. High-Quality Content

You want to make sure your website content does NOT contain boring, cookie-cutter content. You want your content to be:

• Engaging and exciting and resonating with clients
• SEO optimized with key search terms
• A reflection of your brand voice
• Written by a professional content writer, preferably in-house from your website company 

4. Website speed

Your website speed is very important. We’ve all been to a website that takes forever to load or go from one page to the next. Often, we get frustrated and just leave and go to the next site. 

• Your website needs to be very fast both on desktop and mobile. 
• Mobile responsive. Mobile is incredibly important because most people are viewing your site on their phones so it must be mobile responsive, meaning it adapts for viewing on both desktops and mobile devices.

5. Compliant

Your website must follow Google’s policies as well as be ADA Compliant. It is very rare to see an aesthetic website that is truly ADA-compliant unless it is created and built by a website company that specializes in the medical marketing arena. 

6. Contact Form

As discussed above, the website contact form must include  

• Name
• Email
• Phone number
• Source tracking (landing page they entered form submission)
• A place to indicate what service/procedure they are interested in or area of concern

We cannot stress enough the importance of investing in a high-quality, high-converting website that is search-engine optimized (SEO) and built by a company that specializes in the aesthetic space.