Archive for Strategy
Build on Your Successes
Posted by: | CommentsThe fastest and easiest way to increase your revenues is to replicate your successes again and again.
Go through your database and study your accounts receivable carefully. You’ll see certain pockets of positive results that you can get more of, if you simply put some effort into promoting them. The point is to play off your home runs to then get more of them.
Look for trends. Which are your most popular procedures performed? Which procedures are the most profitable (taking into account how much of your own time is involved)?
Study your patient demographics. You will see trends in age, gender, marital status, home ownership, children, education level, occupation and income. You’re not judging these folks. You’re simply learning the type of patient who is most likely to be attracted to you for certain procedures.
By the way, if you don’t like the trends you come up with, you need to change your marketing to attract who you do want as your preferred patient.
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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.
Your Best Defense Against Discounters
Posted by: | CommentsSince you’re not going to stop this new wave of discounters, a good defense is warranted.
Your best defense against discounters is the loyal relationships you’ve built with your current patients. They already know how skilled you are. They trust you. They get a good result. They refer their friends to you. They will not be quick to jump to another provider they don’t know, if they’re super happy with you.
Your competitors don’t have the same relationship with your patients that you have, so nurture it and keep it healthy so your patients cannot be lured away by saving a few bucks.
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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.
Who’s Your Target Audience?
Posted by: | CommentsRegardless of how much the media scares the general public, the good news is that vanity knows no bounds and is a strong motivator. A true aesthetic patient will do whatever is necessary to look and feel better. For now, they may pull back on the more extreme and expensive procedures; however, they will do something to regain what they believe they have lost to look as good as they feel.
Let’s also remember there are 76 million baby boomers that are not looking forward to getting old and they still have the disposable income to slow the aging process. They are the least likely to be affected by what’s going on and the last affected.
So one of your strategies should be to target your older, more mature patients versus your younger patients. That makes so much sense because they’ll have more aging issues than your younger patients. Since they’ve been around longer, they are facing sun-damaged skin, wrinkles and sagging body parts.
When times are tough and finances are stretched, your aesthetic patients need to dig deeper for a reason to see you as well as a reason to give up their money; especially if they’re not sure they will have any in the near future. A majority of your patients will continue to want, need and find the money for rejuvenation procedures because they want what they want and can’t stand looking old. They may also be experiencing life-changing events such as a marriage, divorce, layoff or new job opportunity so they have built-in emotional reasons for wanting aesthetic enhancement.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 3 of 3)
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know what your patients respond to? Learn how you can use your cosmetic questionnaire to get at the heart of what your patient wants and how to give it to her. Don’t use a questionnaire? Then you have to watch this video to find out how a questionnaire can not only help you get to know your aesthetic patients but also get new patients.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 2 of 3)
Posted by: | CommentsYour staff is central to your success. No matter how long your staff has been with you, this video has tips on how to keep staff motivated, happy, and supportive to your patients.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
5 Simple Ways To Introduce Aesthetics To Your Patients (Part 1 of 3)
Posted by: | Commentsf you have a database of patients who trust you, but don’t know that you offer aesthetics this is the video series for you. Catherine lays out 5 strategies you can use today to increase your aesthetic revenues. Not only are they simple strategies, they are cheap, fast, and easy. This presentation was made for Dermatologists at AAD.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
To Discount or Not To Discount
Posted by: | CommentsOnce you lower your prices, it’s nearly impossible to increase them again without losing patients so I don’t recommend offering temporary discounts. You are always better off adding value instead. Patients love a good deal but it doesn’t have to be a cheap price. Bundling services to add more value is a great strategy. For example, free sunscreen with every laser treatment or every laser hair removal leg package comes with a free underarm treatment. This way the patient gets a little something extra and you keep your profit margins up.
Another great strategy is to offer a special price for a very limited time for a very specific reason so the patient knows this is special. For example, if the patient can have surgery on a Wednesday during a certain month, they can save $500 on the OR room since it’s less on a Wednesday than a Friday during that month. Or, a special Birthday Gift Card your patient can use to look their best on their special day and it includes a tight expiration date. The point is for your patient to feel as if they got great value. If you discount, make it feel special rather than random or ‘cheap’.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
Increase Aesthetic Patient Conversion Rates
Posted by: | CommentsYou increase conversion rates by getting back to the fundamentals: ensure your aesthetic patient goes step-by-step through your process so they are most likely to say yes at the end of it. This a well-oiled machine with no shortcuts and every step must happen every time to ensure the patient is comfortable, informed and compelled to move forward. The steps include:
- Efficient Phones
- Welcome Packet
- Trained, friendly Staff
- Comfortable, Clean Environment
- Educational and Compelling In-House Signage
- Initial Consultation with Staff (who are trained in effective aesthetic consultations)
- Social Proof
- Consultation with Physician
- Closing with Staff
- Thoughtful follow up
In today’s competitive climate, it’s all about the quality of the patient experience rather than just the sheer quantity. The “churn and burn” theory is no longer viable since it’s getting much too expensive to advertise that way. If a patient has called your office, taken time out to drive over to see you, meet you and ask questions, it’s your job to do everything possible to help them make a great decision.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
Getting High Quality Referrals
Posted by: | CommentsYou get quality referrals by offering quality. The quality of your materials, your receptionist, your staff, your office, you and your services all dictate your values and what you deem important. If you have the finest quality everything – you will attract patients who see that as attractive and be drawn to you (this will also deter patients who are uncomfortable with quality and just want cheap). So, use quality to attract quality.
Then, by all means, when you do attract a quality patient to you, do everything humanly possible to keep them loyal to you. These patients can be golden to you so build a golden fence around them to they stay, pay and refer their other like-minded friends. Suggestions include inviting them to be an exclusive member of your VIP Club where they get special perks and invite them to be part of your Aesthetic Advisory Board so they can offer feedback and, of course, have them bring a friend so they, too, can get to know you.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
Email Marketing To The Aesthetic Patient
Posted by: | CommentsEmail marketing is a fantastic way to keep in touch with your patients. It’s quick, easy and best of all – cheap. But beware! Email marketing is not as easy as it looks. You not only need really good copy to make it appealing to your audience, you also need technical coding and know-how to get it through today’s company fire walls and SPAM filters. That means you need permission from your patients to send email and you preferably want their personal email address. You then need to work with someone who specializes in html coding so they can prepare the email to be read by different email services, on different computer processors and in different resolutions.
Even when you do everything right, the average open rate of an email is only 15-20%. So while email is a great medium, it’s only one way to keep in touch. Don’t count on it as the only medium to use to communicate with your patients. You still need hard copy communications to get through to your patients.
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s 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.
