SOP 8 · Module 6, The upgrade conversation
The upgrade conversation
What this is for
The upgrade from the entry scan to the $1,500 to $5,000 package happens before the scan, in a sit-down, with one person whose job is that conversation. Not at the front desk. Not after the scan. After the scan, they are thinking about lunch.
Who does it
Call them the wellness consultant, or whatever fits your clinic. The title matters less than the fact that it is their job. If you are small and the front desk has to do it, block the time: fifteen minutes, door closed, both patients in the room.
The presentation
A short deck. Same slides every time. The consultant does not wing it.
- What this scan looks for.
- What it cannot see.
- What the full package sees.
- What the package costs. Say the number. Do not wait for them to ask.
- What happens next, either way.
Copy the sample deck from the classroom and put in your own packages and prices. (The sample deck ships with module 6.2.)
The four objections
Price. Financing. Radiation. Insurance. Those four, every time. The same pattern for all of them:
- Acknowledge in one sentence. Never "but."
- Ask a question that puts the consequence in the patient's mouth.
- Reframe the number against what it protects.
- Close with a small question. Then stop talking.
"That's a lot of money."
Acknowledge: "Totally fair. It's a real number, and I want it to make sense before you say yes to anything."
Ask: "What made you book the screening in the first place?" Let them answer. Then: "If the scan showed something and you didn't know about it for another five years, what would that mean for you two?"
Reframe: "A cardiac event with no warning is an ER visit, a stent or a bypass, weeks off work, and a bill that starts at $50,000 with insurance. This package is under $5,000, it's the full picture, and it's the part you can still do something about. You're not paying for a scan. You're paying to be the person who found out early."
Close: "Does it make sense to at least see the whole picture while you're both already here?"
"Can we finance it?"
Acknowledge: "Yes. Most of the couples who do the full package don't pay it all today."
Ask: "If we could break it into something that fits the monthly budget, is the package something you'd want, or is there something else in the way?" (If it is really price, go back to the first objection.)
Reframe: "With financing it comes to about $[X] a month. That's less than most people's phone bill. And it's for the one thing the phone bill can't help with."
Close: "Want me to show you the monthly option so you can see the actual number?"
Fill in: your financing partner (CareCredit or similar) and the real monthly figure.
"I'm worried about the radiation."
Acknowledge: "Good. You should ask that. I'd rather you ask than wonder."
Ask: "Can I ask what you've heard? I want to answer the actual concern."
Reframe: "A calcium score is a low-dose scan. It's roughly the same radiation as a few months of normal daily life, and less than a lot of routine imaging people get every year without thinking about it. The bigger scans in the package are also low-dose protocols. Our radiologist reviews the dose for every study. What the scan can find is a lot more dangerous than what it takes to find it."
Close: "Would it help if I had the tech show you the actual dose numbers on your study before we start?"
Fill in: your radiologist's real dose figures. Quote your numbers, not a national average.
"Is this covered by insurance?"
Acknowledge: "Honest answer: no, and that's on purpose."
Ask: "Have you ever tried to get a screening covered before something was wrong? How did that go?" Most people have a story. Let them tell it.
Reframe: "Insurance pays after there's a problem. It doesn't pay to find out before. That's why this is self-pay: no referral, no prior authorization, no waiting to get sick enough to qualify. You decide, we scan, you know. And if the scan finds something, that's when insurance steps in for the treatment, with you ahead of it instead of behind it."
Close: "Would you rather wait for insurance to say yes, or know by the end of today?"
What the consultant never does
- Never says "but" after acknowledging. It erases the acknowledgment.
- Never answers an objection that was not asked. If they say price, do not bring up radiation.
- Never keeps talking after the close question. Silence is the close.
- Never discounts. If price is the block, offer financing or a smaller package, not a lower price on the same package.
When they say yes
The consultant adds the upgrade tag in GoHighLevel and puts the dollar amount in the opportunity. Right then, not at the end of the day. That is what makes the pipeline show revenue, not just names.
Done when
One person is assigned, the deck has your packages and prices in it, and these answers are printed and on the consultant's desk.