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.