Catherine Maley, MBA - Attract More Patients and Profit » Cosmetic Image Marketing Topics from Catherine Maley Cosmetic Marketing Expert

Catherine Interviewed During AACS Conference

Catherine — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:05:05 +0000

I gave several talks at the recent AACS Annual Meeting in Las Vegas and a reporter asked to interview me about who a “preferred patient” is and how to encourage them to return and refer. Enjoy!

Razor’s Edge = Profits

Catherine — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:54:55 +0000

I think there was a book or a movie called Razor’s Edge. That means just being a little bit better, as little as a razor’s edge, can make all the difference in the world.

How does this apply to your aesthetic practice? Being just a little bit better is oftentimes enough for the prospective patient to say yes to you versus all the other choices they have today.

Brainstorm with your staff to determine how you could have the razor’s edge when it comes to:

- Answering the phone better than your competitors

- Being friendlier to your visiting patients than your competitors are

- Offering better post-op care so your patients are comfortable and on and on

Hint: it’s often the little things so look at each detail of the patient experience with you and give yourself the razor’s edge so they choose 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.

Answer the Phone!

Catherine — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:25:37 +0000

I gave a talk at the AAFPRS Fall Meeting at Moscone Center in San Francisco this past weekend to the assistants, office managers and patient coordinators. The talk was entitled, “Mystery Call Critiques: What You Need to Hear.”

Since we offer mystery shopping to our clients, I was able to bring examples of good calls and not-so-good calls. My staff and I are still surprised at how many offices take their telephones so lightly. They either don’t answer in a friendly tone, don’t answer at all because they’re at lunch or don’t bother to ask us any questions to bond with us.

Did you know if you lose just one aesthetic patient per day and that patient was worth $2,000 to you (very low by the way), that adds up to $528,000 PER YEAR?! Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t it worth it to you to make your phones a priority? The prospective patients you spend so much time, money and effort getting to call you is wasted if they never get past your phones.

Give yourself a raise by giving your receptionist scripting and protocol so she knows how to professionally bond with the caller and ask for the appointment. It’s well worth a half-million dollars.

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Consistency Breeds Trust

Catherine — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:07:01 +0000

Nothing 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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Is the Economy Improving?

Catherine — Sat, 28 May 2011 18:33:19 +0000

In 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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Back to the Fundamentals

Catherine — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:23:28 +0000

The 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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ASAPS Annual Meeting in Boston

Catherine — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:57:46 +0000

I sat in on a packed room for Hot Topics and I learned a few things of interest:

From 2009-2010, there was a 9% increase in cosmetic surgical procedures with over 1.6 million procedures performed.

The discussion between stem cells/fat cells better than just fat cells is still up for debate.

Some of the skin tightening results are less than stellar and not enough to warrant patient satisfaction on some patients.

More and more physicians of non-core specialties with less training are jumping into aesthetic rejuvenation and making this industry even more competitive.

Topical Botox has merit and is showing results.

Medial tourism is picking up in popularity.

And, Boston was lovely this time of year. The weather was moderate and it’s a beautiful City.

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Good News/Bad News About Aesthetic Internet Marketing

Catherine — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:31:50 +0000

First the Good News: Roughly 3/4ths of wealthy Americans use search engines when shopping for luxury goods and services (so I’m not talking specifically to searching for aesthetic enhancement but the point still applies). Google dominated the searches with 77%.

Now for the bad news: it led to comparison shopping, even to affluent Americans who did not typically shop by price and comparison.

That means the ease of on-line search and research is re-training consumers who didn’t used to buy by price to now consider it. That’s why your staff often says “they are all price shoppers” about the callers because they are if they’re sitting in front of their computer researching different practices on a particular procedure. The next logical step is for them to call and ask about price because you didn’t give them anything else to consider.

That’s reality and you need to deal with it. Go to your website home page right now and be sure the following are covered:

- you gotta be different than everyone else
- have better bragging rights than your competitors
- be more niched so the visitor says “that’s me”!
- your copy must be patient-focused on their emotional wants and NOT your ego needs. Tell your patients why they would be making the best choice when they pick you
- you gotta position yourself as something in the prospective patient’s mind: the cheapest (bad), the most # procedures performed in the area, the only practice with this technology within a 60-mile radius or reassuringly expensive with the ultimate “take care of you” package includes private recovery suite with private nurse, etc.

Source: www.luxuryinstitute.com

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Amsterdam and Plastic Surgery

Catherine — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:12:13 +0000

Here is a silly picture of me in wooden shoes from my recent trip to Amsterdam. I have to say, it’s a beautiful country full of tulips this time of year and the weather was perfect (everyone told us so every day).

Because I’m always on the look-out for everything “aesthetic” no matter where I am, I looked and looked but came up blank in this country.

I saw one bad boob job on a tourist – that’s it! No face lifts, no overdone face fillers, no big lips, nothing! Even people in the Red Light District were natural. I scanned every publication I came across, but never saw the words “Botox” or “plastic surgery” anywhere.

Maybe it’s the “Coffee Houses” with the sweet smell of funny cigarettes that keep these people from aesthetic rejuvenation, but, whatever it is, they certainly could use it. I’ve never seen so many people smoke so many cigarettes in my life.

I love smoke-free California…

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Take Advantage of Mother’s Day

Catherine — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:42:58 +0000

There’s a really big emotional event coming up… Mother’s Day! This is the one time of year your patients feel like they can splurge and do something nice just for themselves.

Some of your patients feel guilty spending family money on vanity, or they feel they don’t deserve it. But, Mother’s Day can change all of that. It’s a special time and the majority of your aesthetic patients are sensitive to it. It’s a time when they would most likely respond to contact from you, if given the chance.

Reach out to your patients and give them permission to do something special for themselves – since they do special things for others all year long. They will appreciate the encouragement.

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