The aesthetic patient is more confused than ever. They have many choices and are overwhelmed with the amount of information available today.
Know how difficult this process can be for your patients. This consultation with you is probably awkward and uncomfortable for them. They want to change something about their appearance that makes them feel insecure or unsure of themselves. They hope fixing, repairing, or enhancing it will make them feel better and more confident. They feel vulnerable and are looking to you for help.
That said, it’s important to note that patients also want to avoid making a bad decision. They do not want to regret their choice. A major part of your job is to reassure them they are in the right place for the right procedure and they will be happy with the result.
Note: If a patient is afraid, uncertain or confused,
they will opt to do nothing.
Aesthetic Patients Want to Experience Before Buying
You are in a tough position when it comes to promoting your intangible aesthetic services. You don’t have a product your patient can hold, touch and feel. You don’t have a product she can use all of her senses for to see, feel, hear, taste and touch to then determine its value to her.
With an intangible service such as aesthetic enhancement, she can’t “see” the quality of your materials or the effort that went into the details of producing the finished piece; which is the result she gets.
Since the aesthetic patient can’t see the excellence of your expertise and cannot touch or feel the superiority and knowledge that will go into the aesthetic service you provide her, you are at a disadvantage.
Give her as much as possible to touch and feel and use as social proof such as photos, testimonials, your credentials, celebrity, your office, your shoes, your greeting, your staff and any other detailed detective work she can experience to give her clues to help her determine you are the right physician for her to give her what she wants.
How Decisions Are Reached
The decision-making process is an entire subject on its own; however, here are some basics to consider:
- Decisions are quickly reached by emotion and then justified with logic.
- People act on prejudices, habits and past experience much more than on knowledge.
- It takes a patient a split second to make a decision but getting ready to make that decision can take a long time.
The point here is to address your patient’s emotional motivators for wanting enhancement but also equip them with the logical reasons why you are the perfect choice so they can easily relay that back to their family and friends if they are challenged.
The prospective patient is doing a cost/benefit analysis in their heads to decide if what you are offering them is worth the time, money and effort and if the benefits will outweigh the risk. Help them see and feel what you offer is more than worth it.
Tip: Aesthetic patients buy what they want – NOT what they need.
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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.
Target Higher-Value Patients
By · CommentsNot 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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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.
Be Easy To Do Business With
By · CommentsIt’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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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.
Is Price Everything?
By · CommentsThere is one more false belief that can cripple your effective interactions with your aesthetic patients and that is the one about money – or lack thereof.
If you and your staff believe “nobody has any money”, “they can’t afford it” and “my patients are cheap”, you will project those beliefs onto your patients so they don’t buy as well as your prospective patients who will appear cheap to you because that is what you believe. But please consider this:
If pricing was the only determining factor, then:
- - everyone would drive a Honda
- - everyone would wear a Timex watch
- - everyone would shop at Walmart
- - everyone would eat at McDonalds and so on..
I promise you, the majority of your aesthetic patients are not looking for the cheapest price but they are looking for a good result at a fair price so it’s the value they want.
The point is if your patient is only concerned about price, it’s because you haven’t educated them about other variables they should consider when choosing an aesthetic physician.
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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.
The Aesthetic Physician in 2010 and Beyond
By · CommentsThankfully, the worst of the Recession is behind us. A recent survey on CNN shows that 27% of people believe the economy is going to be much better… and 77% of that same group of people says they personally are doing better – yeah!
To read what that means for you, and how your competitors are reacting, CLICK HERE.
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See FREE videos on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com where Catherine Maley lays out 5 easy ways to introduce aesthetics to your current patients. Her 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.
You have (or had) patients who feel they were not treated right by your receptionist, a staff person or you. It could have been something benign such as your receptionist did not acknowledge the patient when they first walked in the door and it could be something more serious such as they believe they got a mediocre or bad result and have lost trust in you.
On the one hand, aesthetic patients have elephant memories. They may be prone to holding grudges if they are treated badly in your practice or if they “perceive” they were treated badly.
Frankly, your patient’s perception is your reality so you have to deal with their emotions. Please remember this:
Aesthetic patients won’t remember what you told them.
Aesthetic patients won’t remember what you showed them.
Aesthetic patients will remember how you made them feel.
On the other hand, patients can be quick to forgive IF they feel you value them and want to make them happy. That could mean you simply reconnect with them or it may mean you show significant remorse so they know you understand how they feel.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth It
Obviously, the best thing you can do is to avoid bad feelings with your patients so you don’t lose them. You want to have the friendliest and most informative receptionist answering your telephones. You want to employ staff that bonds quickly with the patients and knows how to direct the patient to a decision to choose you over your competitors. You personally want to connect with the patient so they like, trust and believe in your recommendations.
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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.
How a Multi-Million Dollar Practice Becomes Just That
By · CommentsThe multi-million dollar practice becomes just that because they get good at the fundamentals which are to:
- - Attract high-value patients
- - Qualify them to ensure they are a good fit
- - Convert them to procedures, treatments and products
- - Retain them for a lifetime
- - Testimonials – document all the good things they say about you
- - Referrals – continually encourage referrals from other like-minded patients
The successful aesthetic practice realizes every step in the patient’s experience is vital so they spend time, money and resources to train, retrain, enforce, and reinforce never-ending improvement in their staff, in their processes and in their promotional efforts.
They see the value of one patient and do all they can to attract, convert, nurture and retain that patient as well as their friends, family and co-workers.
They most likely are no more skilled than you are in aesthetic medicine; however, they are skilled at patient relations and promotion. Those skills make the difference between a 6-figure and 7-figure aesthetic practice.
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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.
Challenge of Promoting a Service vs. a Product
By · CommentsYou, the aesthetic physician is in a tough position when it comes to promoting aesthetic services. You don’t have a product your patient can hold, touch and feel. You don’t have a product she can use all of her senses to see, feel, hear, taste and touch a tangible product to then determine its value to her.
With an intangible service such as aesthetic enhancement, she can’t “see” the quality of your materials or the effort that went into the details of producing the finished piece which is the result she gets.
Since the aesthetic patient can’t see the excellence of your expertise and cannot touch or feel the superiority and knowledge that will go into the aesthetic service you will provide her, you are at a disadvantage.
The aesthetic patient has to go by proof such as photos, testimonials, your credentials, celebrity, your office, your shoes, your greeting, your staff and any other detailed detective work she can do to give her clues to help her determine if you are the right physician for her to give her what she wants.
Give her as much social proof as you can so she can comfortably and confidently choose you over all others.
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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.
Fix Your Phones
By · CommentsWe offer a mystery-shopping service for our clients. That means we call their office many times asking various questions about their services and then we critique them to determine how the calls could have been handled better.
Boy, do we get an earful! Many of these calls go so poorly that when I report back to the doctor my findings, they almost don’t believe what I am telling them we heard. They are sure I’m exaggerated so, we now tape these calls.
I continue to be amazed at how much physicians complain to me their business is down, their schedule has holes in it and their marketing doesn’t work when I know their issue is “bad phones”. Nothing else you do means anything if the patient can’t get through, is put on hold or is handled in a curt way. Almost as bad is a nice person answering the phone but having no idea how to answer questions and not having enough sense to admit it, get the caller’s name and promise to have a more knowledgeable staff person call them back with the answers to their questions within the hour.
The average practice loses more than ½ million dollars per year on bad phone techniques. Please get your front office staff trained properly on how to answer the phone, bond with the caller, answer their questions and book the appointment. It could make the difference between thriving and surviving this year.
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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.
