Catching people while
they're still looking.
Two things decide whether an enquiry becomes a booked consult: getting back to someone before they move on, and spending the follow-up time on the people it can actually help. This page covers both. All of it is a starting point to adapt, not a script to follow to the letter.
However they arrive, the clock starts at capture.
The clinic decides how enquiries come in and which tools carry them. Whatever the channel, the moment someone's details are captured is the moment the follow-up window opens.
Phone
Someone calls the clinic directly. If it is answered live, the conversation and the qualifying happen together.
Web enquiry
A form or request on the clinic's own site, landing wherever the clinic routes it.
Referral or walk-in
A physician referral, an existing patient asking about it, or someone who walks in.
The first hour counts for a lot.
Relative chance of reaching someone, by how soon the clinic gets back to them.
The curve is steep at the start and flat after that, which is the useful part: an instant acknowledgment plus a call within the hour captures most of the benefit. Nobody has to drop what they are doing within five minutes for this to work. Illustrative of the established speed-to-lead pattern, not clinic data.
Built for a desk with other jobs to do.
Written for a front desk covering several procedures, with nobody assigned to this one full time. The automated first touch does the time-sensitive work so a person does not have to.
Make it the automatic acknowledgment. It is the piece that genuinely has to happen fast, it costs nothing once configured, and it buys the desk an hour it does not currently have.
Warm, short, and an easy next step.
Three things that tend to work
+ Wording for the acknowledgment, voicemail, text and email Expand
Automatic acknowledgment (fires on capture): "Hi [first name], thanks for getting in touch with the Transform clinic in Seattle. Someone from our team will call you shortly. If it's easier, reach us any time on [number]."
Voicemail (first call): "Hi, this is [name] with the Transform clinic in Seattle, returning your enquiry about treatment. I'd love to answer your questions and, if it's a fit, help you find a consult time. I'll send a quick text too. Reach us at [number]."
Text (same day): "Hi [first name], it's [name] at the Transform clinic in Seattle. Happy to answer questions or hold a consult time for you this week. When's a good moment to talk?"
Email (same day): Short subject ("Your consult request"), a one-line thank-you, two or three consult times offered, the clinic address, and an invitation to ask anything. Save the patient handout for after they reply, not before.
Day 5 to 7 close-out: "Hi [first name], I don't want to crowd your inbox. We're here whenever you're ready, and a consult is the best way to get answers specific to you. Just reply and I'll take care of the rest."
Four quick checks on every enquiry.
A thirty-second read that protects the desk's time for the people this can help. Fit itself is always confirmed by the surgeon at the consult.
Where someone lives does not matter. Whether they will come to Seattle does. Patients travel for a procedure like this, so the only question is whether they are willing to make the trip, not which state they are starting from.
Book, nurture, or pass.
Move straight to holding a consult time.
- Will come to the Seattle clinic
- Describes symptoms and wants them treated
- Has commercial insurance, or is fine with self-pay
- Gives a real phone or email, will talk times
Interested but not ready. Keep the door open.
- Wants to think it over or check their schedule
- Still comparing options or researching
- Needs to sort out timing or budget first
- Reachable and warm, just not booking today
Not a fit. Close kindly, free up the time.
- Can only proceed with Medicare or Medicaid
- Not willing or able to travel to Seattle
- Spam, prank, or no real contact details
- Unrelated or urgent medical issue
Kind, brief, and logged.
Medicare or Medicaid caller
Warm, no pressure. Log it as a polite pass with the reason, so the clinic can see how many enquiries are lost this way.
Spotting and handling spam
- Gibberish name, fake or unreachable number, off-topic message
- Bulk or duplicate enquiries in a short window
- Requests with nothing to do with treatment
- Action: one quick verification attempt, then mark spam and stop. Don't keep chasing.
+ Edge cases: distance, urgent symptoms, and "just researching" Expand
- A long way away but eager: treat them as Book now and note the travel plan. Distance is a logistics question, not a disqualifier.
- Urgent or alarming symptoms: if a caller describes severe pain, heavy bleeding, or anything urgent, don't book a routine consult. Advise prompt medical care and flag it to the clinical team.
- "Just researching": that's a Nurture, not a pass. Offer the patient handout, answer a question or two, and invite them to book whenever they're ready.
- Already had banding that didn't hold: often a strong consult candidate, and usually a frustrated one. Log what they had and roughly when.
+ Optional: stages, if the clinic wants to track this in a CRM A suggestion, not a requirement
Only worth doing if the clinic already runs a CRM and wants to see where enquiries fall away. A simple set of stages that maps onto the triage above:
- New — captured, not yet worked.
- Qualified — clears the four checks.
- Reached — an actual conversation has happened.
- Consult booked — on the calendar.
- Treated — procedure done, plus whatever follow-up the clinic runs.
If the clinic would rather keep this in whatever system it already uses, that is completely fine. The one thing worth capturing either way is the disposition and the reason, so the pattern in the passes becomes visible over time.
Answer early, then spend the time on the people it can help.
An automatic first touch buys the hour. The four checks protect the rest of the week.