Catherine Maley, MBA - Attract More Patients and Profit» Catherine Maley Cosmetic Marketing Expert features on Successful Strategies

5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 3 of 3)

Catherine — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:10:30 +0000

Do you know what your patients respond to? Learn how you can use your cosmetic questionnaire to get at the heart of what your patient wants and how to give it to her. Don’t use a questionnaire? Then you have to watch this video to find out how a questionnaire can not only help you get to know your aesthetic patients but also get new patients.

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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s firm specializes in attracting cash-paying patients to a medical practice using PR, advertising and creative marketing strategies. Catherine can also be reached at (877) 339-8833.

5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 2 of 3)

Catherine — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:08:24 +0000

Your staff is central to your success. No matter how long your staff has been with you, this video has tips on how to keep staff motivated, happy, and supportive to your patients.

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5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 1 of 3)

Catherine — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:05:40 +0000

f you have a database of patients who trust you, but don’t know that you offer aesthetics this is the video series for you. Catherine lays out 5 strategies you can use today to increase your aesthetic revenues. Not only are they simple strategies, they are cheap, fast, and easy. This presentation was made for Dermatologists at AAD.

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Attract New Patients by Networking

Catherine — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:15:40 +0000

When you align with another business owner and they introduce you to their patients or customers as their aesthetic expert, you get instant credibility with a whole new group of prospective patients who already trust you through your association with someone else they already trust.

However, before you approach others, be sure to prepare an answer to the question they will be asking themselves which is, “What’s in it for me if I share my clients with you?” Be sure you set this up as a win-win relationship because this can be a double-edged sword. Your alliances can sing your praises or cut you to the quick if they feel like they were used by you so be sure they get as much from this alliance as you do.

Tip: Set up a win-win relationship with your strategic alliances so they introduce their high-value clients to you.

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For more Free tips and videos, visit www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com. Catherine Maley, MBA is Author of Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients Are Saying and her firm offers everything you need to succeed in aesthetic medicine. You can call Catherine at (877) 339-8833 or email her at info@CosmeticImageMarketing.com.

Set Up System for Referrals

Catherine — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:14:29 +0000

If 70% of your new aesthetic patients are not coming from current patient referrals, shame on you.

Today’s fragmented media outlets have your preferred patients scattered all over the universe so there’s no easy way to get to them so you have to spend way more money trying to be everywhere they are – very expensive, tiring and ineffective.

Truly successful aesthetic practices know that word-of-mouth referrals are the life blood of their practice and well worth the effort.

The majority of patients I interviewed for my book, Your Aesthetic Practice, told me they would have referred you to others if they were only asked.

You cannot take patient referrals lightly.

Set up systems to help ensure your patients brag about you to their friends and family.

And, then by all means, thank your patients through personal thank you calls, thank you note cards and thank you gifts.

Your patients must feel appreciated and encouraged to refer to you because behavior that is rewarded is repeated.

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Use the Right Media and Time to Communicate

Catherine — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:08:29 +0000

Have you ever spent a lot of money on mass advertising like newspapers, magazines, radio and TV and not been happy with your results? There was and is an art to it but that’s quickly becoming mute since media is dramatically changing.

Aesthetic patients no longer flock to their local newspaper, their local news station and their favorite radio station for news. Thanks to media fragmentation, your aesthetic patients now have hundreds and thousands of choices where to go for information.

How in the world can you reach new patients when they are EVERYWHERE – and Nowhere?

They jump from website to website, TV to cable, radio to satellite, magazines to etc. You do not have enough time, money and patience to be everywhere these patients are so you must be much more strategic in today’s divisive media world.

Direct Mail Makes a Come-Back
Direct Mail is fast becoming the cheaper way to communicate with your patients in a personal way that will get a better response than an impersonal ad or a mention in a magazine.

For the price of an envelope and stamp, you can get your patient’s undivided attention (for at least 5 seconds) when she is rifling through her pile of mail. You simply cannot get that kind of 1-on-1 attention anywhere else.

Hot Button Times to Communicate with Aesthetic Patients
There are certain times of the year your aesthetic patients will most want to hear from you. They are most likely to want to do something special for themselves during these times so use these as opportunities to reach out in a personal way to help them celebrate.

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Increase The Amount A Patient Spends With You

Catherine — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:15:31 +0000

You are leaving money on the table if your patients don’t realize everything you offer.

Pareto’s 80/20 Rule tells us that 20% of your current patient database will give you 80% of your revenues. They would buy more from you if given the chance. They have the interest and the financial wherewithal to want a lot of your services.

I guarantee if they don’t buy from you, they will buy from someone else…the aesthetic surgeon/physician/med spa down the street or around the corner or at Sephora or the department store cosmetic counter, etc.

Have strategies in place so you never hear, “I didn’t know you offered that” and then had it done by your competitor or they bought elsewhere.

An aesthetic patient who is interested in one procedure, treatment or product to look better is most assuredly interested in other procedures, treatments and products that do the same.

In addition to that, if they were interested in treating one body part, they will be interested in treating their other body parts.

And an aesthetic patient is typically never satisfied. Not BDD dissatisfied but definitely open to the next improvement so when you rejuvenate one concern she had, she will often turn her attention to the next concern she has. She might not have even noticed that concern while she was obsessing about that one thing that bothered her, but now that you addressed it, she will move on and that is a huge opportunity for you.

Tip: 20% of your aesthetic patients would buy much more from you if given the chance. 5% of those would buy even more.

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Focus on the Buying Habits of Your Preferred Patients

Catherine — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:12:30 +0000

Consumer behavior is a complex subject since it involves emotions, personalities and life experiences. To understand your patients and their motives better, here are four groups of your typical aesthetic patients that will make up your practice.

Tire Kickers
This group doesn’t know what they want. They seem to have a lot of time on their hands because they will attend your events, eat your food, take your samples and never, ever buy. They may even book a consultation, go through the motions but never book a procedure. Do not exert energy on this group since it’s a waste of time.

Deal makers/price shoppers
This group is looking for the best deal in town, above all else. They have a tendency to regard cosmetic enhancement as a commodity and will spend much of their consultation negotiating with you and your staff. To them, it’s an art form to get you to lower your prices or throw in freebies. Beware of them. They will tell their friends they got a great deal from you just because they asked and this will set up a bad precedence in your practice.

Brand loyalists
This is your favorite group. They love you and would not go to anyone else. They wouldn’t even consider going to anyone else – even if they were ½ your prices! They are your cheerleaders, your advocates and your braggers. Treat them well and they are yours for life. Most of your efforts should be concentrated on this group and growing it to include their loyal friends, family and colleagues.

Luxury innovators/Quality shoppers
While this group wants only the best and will pay for it, they can be a pain in the butt. They want everything their way, you need to drop everything to stroke their egos and they have a tendency to flaunt their money (neuvo-riche?) and expect better treatment then your other patients get. While you should treat all of your patients with respect and special care, spending a little extra time and effort on this group can pay off since like people know like people and this can be a profitable group to appease.

Tip: Focus all your efforts on your brand loyalists and quality shoppers since they will make up 80% of your aesthetic profits.

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Target Higher-Value Patients

Catherine — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:28:17 +0000

Not everyone will be able to afford your aesthetic services like before so it’s a good strategy to focus on those patients who are least likely to be affected by changes in the economy and last affected by changes in the economy.

So, one of your strategies should be to target your older, more mature patients who are more affluent versus your younger patients. That’s just obvious because your mature patients have more concerns such as wrinkles, crepe skin, sagging body parts and sun damage. They are also more likely to have the financial wherewithal to afford your services.

The affluent, mature patient will appreciate the quality of service you provide. They will notice, applaud and react favorably to your commitment to them and to being better than your competitors.

But remember, these higher-value patients want to be respected, they expect competence, and they want no hassle and no tension from their service providers. They can afford and are willing to pay for the best information, the best products, the highest level of competence and the best professional service available.

And, they too, are affected by social pressures. Many of these high-end patients are experiencing new phases in their lives such as:

- New job or job layoff
- New marriage or suddenly single
- Upcoming life events, etc.

The point is there are millions of Americans, especially 76 million Baby Boomers, who will do what they need to in order to enjoy a full, active life while looking and feeling good doing it.

By the way, this group of people will see the biggest transference of wealth in history in way of inheritance.

Tip: Identify who your high-end (mature and affluent) patients are and then focus 80% of your efforts on them.

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Be Easy To Do Business With

Catherine — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:23:39 +0000

It’s important NOT to project your assumptions on your patients and not to spend their money for them. You never know someone’s financial wherewithal so keep your options open.

An aesthetic patient may have the cash but may not want to use it – especially during uncertain times or they may not have all the cash and need an easy-pay alternative.

If you don’t offer your patients an easy way to pay for your services because the finance company charges you a fee, you are getting 100% of nothing! The patient is not going to wait until they have the cash. They will go to your competitor to see if they are willing to help them get what they want now rather than wait. Now you lose not only that patient and the revenues from that procedure but you also lose their future revenues and those of their friends.

When you offer financial alternatives, it can change the mindset of the aesthetic patient. Because now the patient is thinking HOW to move forward rather than IF they should move forward.

Work with a vendor like CareCredit to put together great patient pay plans that are easy on your wallet as well as your patient’s.

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