In the audiology world, there's a common refrain:

"I want to charge for my services, and stop giving things away for free."

Especially true with hearing testing.

During our Market of One Masterclass yesterday with the practice owners in my new Practice Amplifier Program, I shared the simple but powerful framework to turn "services" that are hard to differentiate and sell, into "Offers" that patients actively seek out and want to buy.

A hearing test is a great case study.

How do you convince a patient it's worth spending money on a hearing test?

Stop trying to sell the hearing test.

Imagine your car is smoking, rumbling, and making strange sounds.

You know little to nothing about cars.

You're just worried it's going to be expensive to fix it, and you won't have a way in to work.

You call auto shop A, and they say:

"We can check that out for you. It will probably cost around $250 to figure out what's going on."

You say "Why $250?"

They say, "Well, our technician has to do an onboard diagnostic scan, battery load testing, electrical system analysis, exhaust back pressure testing, and might need to do a transmission fluid and solenoid check.

Some places might say they can check it for free, but they really won't be doing a thorough job."

Your takeaway is that they're going to do a lot of complicated stuff and you're more confused and still uncertain of the outcome.

Maybe it's a complicated problem, but you're going to keep calling around.

Here's what auto shop B says:

"I'm glad you called us, we can definitely help with that.

It sounds like the first step is to figure out what's going on with your car, so that you can get a clear sense of your costs and how long it will take to get the car back. Is that right?"

You: "Yes, that would be great."

Them: "No problem! That's exactly why we do at our 8-Point Inspection and Troubleshooting appointment. You bring your car in, let us look at it for 90 minutes and evaluate all of the potential causes of that problem.

When we're done, we'll give you a complete written report that tells you in plain English what's going on with your car, what's working well and what needs to be done, and how much you can expect for it to cost.

You're welcome to work with us, or take the report to another mechanic. We're not the cheapest shop but we're competitive, we have an excellent guarantee program, and many of our customers have used us for over a decade for their car care.

We also have a connection with the local Hertz and can get you a discounted rental if your repair is going to take a while.

That appointment and your report cost $250. Would you like to set that up?"

What's the Takeaway?

People aren't calling because they want a hearing test.

When you say:

• We do special tests
• We have questionnaires
• We do a comprehensive case history
• We spend 2 hours with you, etc...

You're just listing a bunch of services they don't care about.

There's also a good chance you're unintentionally making them more confused and less certain of their desired outcome.

In our Market of One Masterclass yesterday, I shared the Four Elements of a High-Converting Offer.

Spoiler - Shop B nailed them.

The big takeaway? People don't come to you for your "stuff".

They come to you with a problem, looking for a solution.

If you can present a solution in their language, that's aligned to their problem in a way that creates more clarity and certainty of their desired outcome, you're on the right track.