Archive for Business Growth
Lessons from My Accountant on How NOT To Run a Service Business
Posted by: | CommentsI pay this guy $375/hour to do my taxes every year. I have been loyal, never bother him during the year, bring all my organized receipts every year, paid him big time the one time I was audited and the guy totally takes me for granted. He doesn’t return my calls until I’ve called at least 2 or 3 times. Then he says he’ll do something and then doesn’t and I have to request it yet again. On top of that, he has filed extensions on my taxes the past 2 years because he didn’t get around to it.
What does this cost him? The door is now open for any other financial professional to take my business away. And it has cost him dearly in referrals he will never see from my friends and family because I don’t have anything great to say about him.
How about you? Are you treating your profitable aesthetic patients like my accountant treats me or are you giving them great service and staying in touch so they only think of you when they’re ready for your professional services?
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Feel-Good Marketing Works
Posted by: | CommentsAlmost every plastic surgery website I visit talks about how caring and compassionate the doctor is and how their main concern is for the patient.
Yet, patients tell me about how they were treated curtly, the doctor didn’t listen to them, they felt rushed, their questions weren’t answered and on and on.
Use that to your advantage. Answer your phones better than your competitors do. Treat your visiting patients better than your competitors do. Devise built-in “touch points” to reach out to your patients throughout the year in a feel-good, thoughtful way.
You’ll stand out big time from your competitors and make a huge impression on your patients who will return and refer.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Let’s Make a Deal
Posted by: | CommentsDo you ever feel like you’re playing “Let’s Make a Deal” with aesthetic patients?
Thanks to popular coupon discount sites, today’s aesthetic patients are quickly becoming price shoppers. They’ve come to expect getting a deal just to get to know you. That trend is here to stay for the foreseeable future, so how are you going to deal with it?
The problem with the discount tactic is that a prospective patient who comes to you for price will leave you for price, so it’s nearly impossible to build a loyal following with this approach.
You probably think you’ll convert these frugal friends into loyal patients but most likely, they’re after a deal and will just clog up your phones and your schedule… and NOT convert.
A better long-term strategy (not short-term tactic) is to build a practice database of loyal patients who know how great you are, trust that you are the best, are glad to pay a fair price for your skills and expertise, and who rave about you to their friends.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
3 Steps to Smart Aesthetic Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsStep #1: Smart aesthetic marketing focuses your message on the patients you most want to visit your practice. You do not want to be everything to everybody because that’s too general and won’t appeal to anyone. Decide now who your “preferred” patient is in terms of:
- Ethnicity
- Age
- Income
- Zip Code
- Lifestyle: single or married
- Professional or stay-at-home mom
- Procedures they want
- Concerns they have
Step #2: Understand what that particular target group is most interested in and how your services provide the best solution. You can brainstorm with your staff or, better yet, ask your patients directly.
For example, the younger Hispanic female may be most interested in hair removal or liposuction at the best price possible whereas the mature professional Caucasian woman may be interested in paying top dollar for a natural-looking face lift. Your headlines reaching out to these different groups would be completely different:
Sick of Unwanted Hair? Get Rid of It Painlessly.
Afraid of An “Overdone” Face Lift Look? Read This….
Step #3: Be where they are, so they see and act on your message.
- Attend/speak at events they attend
- Buy banner ads on websites they frequent
- Mail them educational materials with an offer to call now
Although this may feel counterintuitive to you to condense your focus, it will actually give you more results because you are working with quality rather than quantity.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Consistency Breeds Trust
Posted by: | CommentsNothing is more important to your success than your patients and prospective patients trusting you.
Trust is born from consistency and it’s a disconnect when a patient asks you and your staff questions and get conflicting answers. It’s your responsibility to ensure each staff person answers questions from would-be patients just as well as you would. How do you do that?
- Record yourself during a patient consultation where you are explaining a procedure to a patient. Have your staff listen to it and discuss it at your next staff meeting.
- Do a mock patient consultation for each staff meeting, have someone transcribe it and turn it into that procedure’s FAQ and start a binder to be referred to regularly.
- Keep FAQ’s near the telephone so anyone answering can easily answer a simple question and book an appointment.
Now, no matter who the prospective aesthetic patient asks and how many different people in your office they ask, they will get a straight answer and it will be consistent. That will give them the peace of mind they need to move forward.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Summer’s Here!
Posted by: | Comments
Another changing season means a shift in mindset for your patients. They have weathered another dreadful Winter, dealt with the rainy season and are now anticipating the sunny months of Summer. They want to shed all the big clothes and pull out their Summer fun stuff and that will get them thinking about you and how you can help them look great this fun time of year.
Now is the perfect time to remind them you can help them look great during vacation at the beach in a bathing suit, in shorts at the family reunion picnic and all dressed up at Summer weddings they’ll be attended.
There are so many occasions and happenings going on during the Summer months your patients want to look their best for so get your word out about easy, fast ways to help them to sizzle this Summer.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Is the Economy Improving?
Posted by: | CommentsIn Bob Brinker’s MarketTimer newsletter for May, he talks about the state of the economy. This month indicates continued economic expansion even with a weak housing market and high energy prices. The jobless rate declined in 34 states but the unemployment rate remains high at 8.l8% and the underemployment rate is very high at 15.7%.
So, what does that have to do with aesthetic medicine? Everything. You want to be strategic about who you target for your aesthetic practice. There’s a good chance the economy is not going to bounce back anytime soon, so just prepare. Market to your higher-end, more mature patients versus the young girls who don’t have as much need for your aesthetic services. Your mature patients are least likely to be affected by changes in the economy and last affected by changes in the economy.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Back to the Fundamentals
Posted by: | CommentsThe most successful multi-million dollar aesthetic practices become just that by focusing on and getting very good at the following fundamentals:
- Attracting high-value cosmetic patients
- Qualifying them to ensure they are a good fit
- Converting them when they call and when they come in for a consult
- Retaining them for a lifetime
- Encouraging their referrals
Be sure to set up processes that address each step so you get the most out of each patient interaction.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
I Had No Idea…
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the perks of being in the aesthetic industry is that I get to try new cosmetic treatments and procedures so I take full advantage of that when the opportunity presents itself.
So, I happen to be visiting one of my plastic surgeons who lives nearby because I wanted to drop off some of his patient-attraction Endless Patients tools so I got to stay for a little injectable rejuvenation. Well, he gave me some Botox for the glabellar – normal. But he also put a little filler in there to soften the concave look and give me a fuller look in that area. I can’t say I look 25 again but I can say that was a great little perk!
I’ll bet most of your cosmetic patients don’t know about this little technique. It could be just the differentiator from your competitors you needed. If they don’t do it or they do it but don’t tell anyone, there’s your competitive edge.
So here’s the strategy. Turn that little juicy perk into tons of value for your patient (that equals tons of value and free PR for you as well):
- -Make a 2-4 minute video about it to add to your website under “What’s New”
- -Add that video to YouTube
- -Make a video of your patient talking about it and saying how much they love their result. Add that video to your website, blog and YouTube
- -Write blurb for your patient newsletter and show before/after pics
- -Mail letter to other like-minded patients just like the patient you treated, show before/after pics and include special offer with tight expiration date for them to have it done
- -Turn into a special for the month; i.e., every Botox treatment gets a little free “lift” during the month of May
- -Throw in as a perk when they sign up for laser packages (rather than discounting)
So here’s the point. I’m sure you’ve put your own little spin on almost every procedure you offer. To you, it’s common sense. To your patients, it’s genius! And New. And a “gotta have it” from you!
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
How’s Your Staff at Converting?
Posted by: | CommentsDid you know that 20-30% of your potential new patients are lost on the initial phone call to your office? While you may have a great team of office staff members, they not be effectively trained to efficiently promote and sell your practice to the individual on the other end of the line. Click Here to Read More…
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
