Interview with Peter Adams, Sycle.net

Topic: Sycle.net Sales Generation

Peter Adams

SMAKA: This is Carolyn Smaka from AudiologyOnline, and I'm speaking with Peter Adams from Sycle.net. Hi, Peter. Thanks for being here today.

ADAMS: Hi, Carolyn. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.

SMAKA: I heard some buzz at AudiologyNOW! about a new program Sycle has started that's generating sales for hearing care providers. Can you tell me more about it?



ADAMS: Absolutely. We're really excited to be bringing this to the industry. The program, which we've named Sycle Sales Generation™ is a new paradigm accomplishing something this industry has been trying to do for years, which is to generate quality business leads and get them to book appointments. Different programs out there have tried to help generate leads for private practitioners for years. At Sycle.net, our take on it is a little bit different. It's more than a lead generation program, which is why it has a different name, Sycle Sales Generation. Our program is designed to generate very qualified leads over the Internet using paid search and advanced online advertising techniques to drive patients to participating clinics.

SMAKA: Where did you get the expertise to develop best practices in online sales generation?

ADAMS: We worked with an incredible online advertising agency. Their roster of clients is impressive and boasts several Fortune 500 companies. They specialize in generating online leads for these top companies. Annually, they generate billions of leads, and their talent and expertise is essentially the best out there.

SMAKA: You mentioned the name is Sycle Sales Generation. What's the difference between sales generation and lead generation?

ADAMS: The main difference is that Sycle's Sales Generation is a paradigm shift, as opposed to other lead-generation systems, where you pay for the lead regardless of a sale occurring. With Sales Generation there is no risk to the clinic. Participants in our progam only pay per sale;they don't pay for the lead. If a patient who is referred ends up having the appointment but doesn't purchase a hearing aid, the clinic doesn't owe a fee or pay anything. Payment only comes into play if the patient is fit with a hearing aid that they keep. If the hearing aid is returned there's no charge to the clinic. This is why we named it Sales Generation, as the clinic only pays if a hearing aid sale occurs.

SMAKA: If a patient is referred to me through this program and purchases a hearing aid, that's a sale I wouldn't have otherwise had, so paying a fee, at least to me, would not be a big deal in that case, depending on exactly how much it was.

ADAMS: Industry statistics show that it can cost anywhere from $500 to $900 in marketing efforts to generate a new patient. The fee in the Sycle Sales Generation program comes in far below that. As you said, this fee if for producing a patient and a sale that didn't exist.

SMAKA: Can you give more specifics about how the Sales Generation program works for Sycle customers?

ADAMS: We've designed several online campaigns driven with paid search that are designed to attract people searching for solutions to hearing loss. These patients are then funneled on to very professional, informative Web sites that have been designed and built by the award-winning advertising agency we hired. From there, these patients are able to take an online hearing test, fill out a questionnaire and educate themselves about hearing loss. From here, they can start to understand there are solutions out there for them.

Throughout this process and using a wide variety of best practices in online marketing and sales generation, the patients are moved through the site, ultimately funneled to our call center. The call center is then able to book appointments on the schedule of participating Sycle.net users' schedules. The call center is staffed with trained appointment-booking professionals, which helps increase the conversion rate from phone call to appointment.

As far as booking the actual appointment, the call center attendees only see available calendar space on the participating clinic's schedules. The clinics get to determine what days and what times they want to accept Sales Generation appointments. We allow the clinic owner and clinicians to sit in the driver's seat with regard to when they see these patients, but we take on the work of generating the patients and getting the appointment booked.

SMAKA: With other lead generation programs, I've seen this process break down when you get a lead and you're out of the office or it sits on the desk of your office manager for a couple of days. Then by the time you call the patient they've either lost their motivation or they've booked somewhere else. Since your system has access to book the actual appointment through Sycle, when the patient or the consumer has the highest motivation, I would think that this is a big advantage.

ADAMS: The goal is to get patients with hearing loss through the door, and a lot of the techniques that the Sycle.net Sales Generation program uses are what differentiates us from the others. This program ensures that the people answering the phones are professional appointment-bookers. Between the online hearing test and the questionnaire, we're very confident that the prospective patients generated from this program are qualified leads that are seriously looking for solutions to hearing loss.

SMAKA: We know there are many people out there that need solutions for their hearing loss and either aren't doing anything about it or are not sure how to take action. For whatever reasons they do not seek the treatment that they need, so this sounds like something that could make a difference.

ADAMS: More than 30 million people across the United States are suffering from hearing loss, yet less than 3 million hearing instruments are sold each year. Where's that disconnect, and what can we do? As an industry, how can we leverage modern technology, like the Internet? It's all about getting the message out there, providing information and helping encourage people to get help for issues we have solutions. By getting them scheduled for appointments, we can make a difference and help make the lives of these patients better.

SMAKA: If I'm a Sycle customer, how do I get on board?

ADAMS: Sycle members can get on board now. We initially announced the program at AudiologyNOW! because it's critical for us to build a robust database of participating clinics. We have been thrilled with how popular it has become - every day we have more clinics enrolling. The program officially launched at the end of September and the phones at the call center immediately started ringing. Visit our Web site, www.Sycle.net, and you can find information on enrolling in Sycle.net's Sales Generation program. We can have you set up and prepared to participate in just a matter of minutes.



SMAKA: Good luck with the program. Let's plan on following up a few months after the launch and hear about the experiences of some of the clinics that are participating.

ADAMS: Definitely. We're really excited about the program, and I look forward to giving you that update.

SMAKA: Thanks, Peter. Always great talking to you.

ADAMS: You too, Carolyn.

For more information about Sycle.net visit the Sycle.net web channel on AudiologyOnline.com.