Archive for Successful Strategies
Office Manager’s Comments about the Receptionist
Posted by: | CommentsMy last Webinar entitled, “Initial Consult to Close” talked about how important the first call into your aesthetic practice is and here are follow-up comments I received from an astute office manager at a busy practice:
“I really just wish we could lock doctors down and let them understand how important the front desk position is for usually the lowest in pay – the most in pressure.
I love our front desk and that position has always been a treasure of mine in the past and even more now as I am new in this office. They are the first to arrive ( outside of me …LOL )– last to leave – last to take a lunch if someone else is not running on time – are responsible for the schedule – however don’t hear many times the good part – or never heard when working hard to fill in gaps – the first to hear the stress when a doctor isn’t busy … responsible for all paper work – a computer system that many doctors and care providers don’t even log on to … AND THEY are always suppose to have a smile as well … it’s a lot to expect when the position is your lifeline … staff need to know that they are supported and respected NOT just a receptionist … when they are out … my JOBS go by the way side … I need her – to do my job or mine suffers as well – the doctors need her to support them … and the patients deserve a calm friendly non-stress greeting.
I don’t always agree with stressing secret shoppers – as they seem to call right when the office has 6 people checking in and out – they have no back up – the fax is not working – the printer is jammed – you have a person who has just found out they have skin cancer and their deductible is $5,000 and it is their 90 year old father with Alzheimer’s or their 17 year old son and half of his lip will be taken off and his senior year he won’t be able to play his favorite sport. The first person you should be taking care of is the person in front of you and the person TESTING you has no idea what else is going on around the person they are asking all the questions and looking for the perfect answer.
Ok I will step off my soap box … I understand how important that job is and how long it takes ( dollars & hours ) to train that position. I don’t want to replace I want to train correctly and encourage growth. It’s hard to be at the front desk – hear other staff laughing and talking with the doctor or each other and feeling like you are not a part.”
This office manager really gets it and I applaud her for caring so much about her plastic surgeon and the practice’s success.
For a Free Marketing Checklist, Visit www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Little Hinges Swing Big Doors
Posted by: | CommentsAs competition heats up in 2012 for aesthetic patients, it’s time to get serious about your aesthetic services and what you offer to the world. If you are committed to crushing it this year, you must have ZERO TOLERANCE for mediocre staff, sloppy processes and lazy practices that underwhelm your patients. Aesthetic patients today won’t tolerate being treated like second class citizens. They will give their disposable income to the practice that makes them feel special.
It’s the little things that pull you out of the fray and into a “class of your own.” Let’s start with your phones. A well trained receptionist can catapult your new patient conversions when they call and get a great experience on the telephone. What defines a great experience? A phone that is answered by the third ring, by a friendly voice, by someone who can answers simple questions about the procedure and the practice and who can ask for the appointment. Start there. Fix your phones for a great 2012!
For a Free Marketing Checklist, Visit www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
Lay-a-Way Program Helps Conversions
Posted by: | CommentsThis weekend, I attended a conference where a very smart (and rich) guy was talking about the economic indicators for the next 4 years. Without going into the depressing and scary statistics about unemployment, the prolonged housing crisis, and government unrest, it looks like we are not going to see better times for awhile.
The good news is if you know that, you can adapt accordingly, so here’s an idea: Offer your big-ticket aesthetic procedures on the lay-a-way plan. Patients can put money down today to lock in their commitment and then make payments to you up until their surgery date. You can even decide on a monthly amount you will automatically charge their credit card.
While this may seem like a hassle or too much work, it’s well worth it if you have prospective patients who want what you offer but can’t afford it or don’t want to spend their money all up front.
This way, the patient stays loyal to you, they are grateful you gave them a way to get what they want and you have a patient on the books rather than a prospective patient who visits other practices to see if they’ll help them.
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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.
Razor’s Edge = Profits
Posted by: | CommentsI 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.
Guarantee Surgery – Wha-Wha-WHAT???
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a pretty good chance you don’t guarantee your surgeries so please hear me out.
Consumers in general are skeptical. Patients are even more so since they want to know they’ll get a good result and they won’t have buyer’s remorse. They don’t know whom to trust and often have a tough decision to make between several practices. So how can you stand out?
Offer something your competitors don’t and watch your conversions grow. Offer a guarantee they will be happy with their result or you’ll throw in a revision for up to one year. However, put parameters around it. They must adhere to your directions, show up for their appointments and agree to communicate.
You probably do this anyway if a patient is unhappy so offer it up front to take away their fear of making a mistake by going with you versus someone else. And it tells your prospective patient you’re confident in your ability and that builds their trust in you.
So even if 1 out of 100 take advantage of it and you lose a little money, you’ll get 10x more conversions and 10x more profits by offering something unique. Try it!
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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 Loyal Fans
Posted by: | CommentsI’m sure you’ve heard that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your patients. It’s called the Pareto Principle and it works just as well today as it did decades ago. You want to learn who your top 20% of preferred patients are because they will be the ambassadors of your practice as well a great revenue stream with limited effort.
Go through your database and look for those who have spent more with you, visited most frequently, referred more patients than others or who are very connected in the community. Now you want to put a “fence” around them to keep them happy, loyal, returning and referring. How do you that?
You make them part of your exclusive VIP Club. That means they get extra perks that others don’t (until they, too, prove themselves worthy of your Club). Give them an official VIP card that allows them things like: last-minute Botox appointments, free makeover after every treatment so they can go right back to their everyday activities, free monthly peel, you have many options.
The point is you want them to feel very special because they are part of your inner circle. I promise they will brag to their friends about this VIP treatment and their friends will want to know how to become part of your “private club”. This club is very similar to the airline frequent flyer clubs. You have a much different flying experience when you are part of the club – you get on first, there’s plenty of room for your luggage, you get much more leg room, and so on. It’s a different industry, but the same concepts apply. People like to be treated special and will invest in that feeling.
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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.
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.
Answer the Phone!
Posted by: | Comments
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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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.
Good Job Cross-Promoting Aesthetic Services
Posted by: | CommentsI recently had a Botox and wrinkle filler session with a plastic surgeon. He was great and I looked better, so all was well. But, that evening I did develop some bruising – that didn’t really surprise me, but what did surprise me was an email I got minutes later. His nurse, whom I met briefly while I was there, emailed me and offered to do a quick laser procedure to help minimize my bruising if I had any. How great is that? I called her and ran back in for my little laser procedure and my bruising is significantly better. Now I know about her and her laser procedures – and I plan on going back for more! What a great way to show you care and promote ALL of your aesthetic 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.
Aesthetic Patients Come in All Shapes and Sizes
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s more important than ever for patients to see themselves in your materials. Patients need to quickly feel as if you know them, you understand them and you’ve helped others just like them.
For example, if Sally is a 57-year old white professional who wants a face lift, it’s best she see other 57-year old white professional patients who had a face lift. It’s even better if you have a 57-year old patient coordinator who you performed a face lift on so she can show her scars (or lack of) in person.
Or, if Cindy is a 30-year old Hispanic young lady with two kids who wants a Mommy Makeover, it’s best she speak with and sees patient photos of other 30-year old Hispanic young ladies with kids who had a Mommy Makeover and couldn’t be happier.
More “matching” strategies include:
- Have different Websites for different procedures
- Show a variety of demographics on your websites
- Show the prospective patient before/after photos that match their demographics
- Any staff person who matches a demographic and has had the specific procedure done should talk to the prospective patient about their own experience.
The point is, the more you can match your message to your market, the more successful you’ll be.
