Archive for Physicians
What Can I Do To Save My Aesthetic Practice?
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a brief dose of brutal reality.
It was easy before now and you didn’t have to try very hard to fill up your office with cash-paying patients.
Consumers were spending like drunken sailors. Credit was available for everyone for whatever they wanted. TV shows like Extreme Makeover made it possible for everyday people to have a new life of love, wealth and health with cosmetic enhancement.
The demand was high, the patients were showing up for their appointments and the money was flowing.
But not anymore….The party is over.
Many of your patients have lost their jobs or are afraid they would lose their jobs soon so they stopped spending on aesthetics.
Others had their credit dry up and couldn’t afford aesthetics anymore.
Many of your patients who once considered aesthetic services a necessity now viewed them a luxury to be put off until things are better.
The media pours on doomsday stories about stocks sliding, businesses closing and the world coming to an end. Let’s face it – it makes for a good story!
There’s been a shift in wealth. The wealth is still there – it’s just in different hands now.
As a service provider, you now have to work at it to get the same results that used to come to you effortlessly.
That’s the difference and that’s why only the strategic will survive.
Remember those sayings:
There’s a silver lining in every cloud or when one door closes, another one opens?
The current state of the economy is doomsday for some and opportunity for others – so which group do you fall into?
Do not let highly publicized pessimism stop you from being excited and enthusiastic about your future in aesthetic medicine.
The good news is that with the right mind set and strategies, there is much you can do to survive and even flourish during this shaky time.
Rather than sit back and wait for things to get better, those who proactively “do something” will fare much better.
“Don’t you see – all is not over. It’s just different.”
You Are in an Enviable Position
You cater to a very hungry market – the patient who wants to look and feel better and will invest their time, money and effort to do so
These aesthetic patients want to feel better. That is not a one-time feeling. This is an ongoing, innate desire for an ever-growing, aging population.
Think about it. This patient has a built-in need now and for years to come because if they care today how they look, they are really going to care as the aging process takes an even bigger toll.
So, spending effort up front now to attract that aesthetic patient to your practice and nurturing that relationship, will prompt them to return again and again for procedures, treatments and products that help them look and feel good.
The point is, this is not a one-time transaction. The first transaction should always lead to another and another.
It can cost a small fortune to acquire a new patient – but it costs next to nothing to keep them. The financial beauty of this relationship-based practice is that your costs will dramatically decrease if you simply maintain your patient database you spent time, money and effort to get in the first place.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Please watch my free videos by filling out the form to the right, now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
The Secret to Aesthetic Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the biggest secrets in aesthetic marketing that increases the response to your offers is….multiple exposures. The more times an aesthetic patient hears and sees your name, the more comfortable they will be with you and trust that you are the perfect solution for them.
Another way to get multiple exposures is through combinations of media. If at the same time your patient is receiving mail from you, they also see your ad in the local newspaper and their girlfriend mentions you… that’s powerful and compelling for them to call you since they feel as if they know you better.
Multiple exposures gives your patients instant recognition of your name and practice and a much better chance of them responding to your promotional efforts because they are mentally saying, “Oh yes. I know you.” and is now much more receptive to you.
Here are other low costs things you can use for multiple exposures to your aesthetic patients:
#1: A uniform business image – colors, your name, a logo carried over to your practice materials, your website, your signage and, of course, all of your advertising.
#2: Repetitive contact with fewer aesthetic patients rather than just one contact with a large number of prospective patients.
#3: Distribution of your brochures and business cards to strategic alliances.
#4: The sponsorship of a community event.
The point is to stay in front of your patients as well as your prospective patients. Because, when they are finally ready for aesthetic enhancement, they are going to look up and look for answers and you better be there for them!
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments
or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice
and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Aesthetic Marketing for Physicians Who Want More Cosmetic Patients
Posted by: | Comments“So, how did you hear about Dr. Smith?”
That should be one of the most important questions you ask every single patient walking through your door. If you’re doing this correctly, 7 out of 10 of them should answer with one of your patients’ names.
A word of mouth referral is the absolute best advertisement you can incorporate into your practice. It’s also the cheapest form of advertising you can invest in, and it takes so little time and effort.
Spending time now developing relationships with your current patients will grow your prospective patient list later. If your patients like, trust, and respect you, they will be happy to tell their family and friends about you and may even brag about your great work to everybody they know. Due to our Baby Boomer culture and TV shows like Extreme Makeover, it’s more acceptable to enhance your look and tell people about it. Use that to your advantage and get your patients talking about you and your great work!
By the way, in my book Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients are Saying the patients I interviewed told me they would refer more often if the doctor and staff had asked them to – So Ask!
Of course, you need commitment from your staff to make patient satisfaction your #1 priority so meet with them regularly to ensure they understand the importance of treating each patient with a warm and friendly attitude each time they call or visit. Also, be sure your telephone is answered by the third ring, call back when you say you will and don’t keep them waiting!
There are hundreds of ways to ensure you are getting the most from word of mouth referrals and here are just a few:
- During your initial patient consultation, before jumping right in, take two minutes and talk to your patient to build rapport. Easy icebreaker topics are their occupation, neighborhood or how they heard about you. That information is right in front of you on their patient information form they filled out. This helps you connect with them, builds their trust in you and helps the two of you communicate more freely since you are showing your interest and concern in them.
- Set expectations and live up to them. And, under promise and over deliver. If they are pleasantly surprised that they got more than they expected, they will shout it from the rooftops.
After procedures, follow up with a telephone call, note card or flowers. If they had surgery, you should be making the first follow up telephone call yourself so they know you care.
Now, thank your patients who have referred you and don’t wait!
- -Have staff call them initially to thank them
- -Write a personal note from you to thank them
- -Call them yourself to thank them
- -Send a little gift of appreciation for multiple referrals
- -Invite them in for a complimentary peel or microdermabrasion for multiple referrals.
- -Hold an annual patient appreciation day for your patients and their family and friends. Make it an event by serving wine and hors d’oeuvres and have drawings for free and discounted services.
The bottom line is always the same. Treat your patients well, respect their time and concerns and show you care. They will tell enough people about you that your practice will flourish in no time.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments
or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
What Can An Aesthetic Physician Do to Weather The Economic Storm?
Posted by: | CommentsThere is much you can do to survive and even flourish no matter what is happening in the economy.
I guarantee the answer is NOT to wait and do nothing. Those who proactively act will fare the best. And, since your competitors are sitting on the sidelines from fear, now is the perfect time for you to increase your promotional efforts. You can attract new patients (some of them from your competitors who are ignoring them) and you can reconnect with your own patients to ensure they stay loyal to you.
This is not the time to start a huge, expensive external campaign to attract total strangers to your practice. That will take too long, too much money and may not pan out. However, it is time to go through your patient files and set up a strategy to get them to return, spend more with you when they do and refer more of their friends.
Segment your lists by age and send them solution-specific messages to address probable concerns they may have. For example, send tummy tuck information to moms in their 30-40’s, facelift information to professional females in their 50-60’s, etc. This targeted messaging should give you a much better return on your investment than sending one-message-fits-all.
