Catherine-Maley-Logo - 2
Catherine-Maley-Logo - 2

BLOG

Schedule a Free 30-Minute Strategy Call
Your Aesthetic Practice Book

Share This Post

Biggest Reason Cosmetic Patients Choose You Over Your Competitors

In this blog post, you will discover the biggest reason cosmetic patients choose you over your competitors so
you can attract more of them.

You and your staff spend up to an hour with a prospective patient talking with them and showing them what
they can expect. You explain the procedure and then your coordinator goes over the quote and then what
happens?
Your
cosmetic patients choose you

The majority of the time you get the dreaded, “I gotta think about it.” Ugh!
It makes you feel like you’re spinning your wheels and wasting your time, doesn’t it?

To help you understand the inner workings of the aesthetic patient’s mind, I did research
for my book, Your Aesthetic Practice: What Your Patients are Saying, where I personally
interviewed many cosmetic patients to figure out why they say yes to one surgeon and no
to the others.

My objective was to determine trends and commonalities of cosmetic patients to you better
understand them.

Here are some of my key findings:

  • 90% of the time, the confidence in the surgeon’s ability and positive staff
    interaction were more important than price;
  • 75% went on multiple consultations before deciding (the majority of those who
    went on one consultation did so after a glowing recommendation from their friend, family member or
    colleague;
  • Long waiting times and feeling hurried were a reoccurring complaint that
    hurt the relationship; and
  • The better the staff, the less time the surgeon had to spend with the patient
    during the consultation.

Aesthetic Practice Book Survey Conclusion/Findings

While the above responses were interesting, it was apparent I needed to probe further to see if I could come up
with some generalities that could define what made up a good practice that prospective patients said YES to,
however, this is what I learned instead. ….

The aesthetic patients’ preferences varied greatly.

These aesthetic patients are consumers who think very differently.

And, their perceptions were so varied such as:

  • While some thought an aesthetically gorgeous office indicated pride and success; others thought it was
    over the top, intimidating and made them feel uncomfortable;
  • While some thought the surgeons did not spend enough time with them and felt rushed; other patients
    thought too much time with them made them wonder why the surgeon wasn’t busier; and
  • While some thought the surgeon was so thorough explaining the various procedures available, others
    felt overwhelmed and confused with so many options.

So, I probed further and asked, bottom line, why they chose that particular surgeon over the others, there was a
consistent answer that came up again and again….

The biggest reason cosmetic patients chose you over your competitors was that the patient felt a “connection” with
you, your staff and the overall vibe of the practice atmosphere.

It was the FEELING they got when interacting with everyone at the practice.

Their “intuition” was telling them this was the right surgeon, staff and practice for them.

They had developed rapport with people in the practice and trusted that that particular surgeon understood them
and would give them the best possible result.

So, what is Rapport?

If rapport is so vital, it’s important to understand it. It’s difficult to define and you either have it with your patient
or you don’t.

Rapport is that bond you build with your prospective patient.  It’s the single most important personality skill plastic
surgeons and staff need to be successful.

You build rapport through words, tone and gestures as well as commonalities since:

  •      7% of what is communicated is through your words
  •      38% through your tone of voice
  •      55% through your body language
catherine-maley-book- 1

ORDER MY BOOK

A Complete Guide to Understanding Your Aesthetic Patient and Growing Your Aesthetic Practice. Catherine Maley, MBA went straight to the aesthetic patient to get the answers you need to succeed with your patients.

ORDER NOW

How do you Create Rapport with Cosmetic Patients?

The aesthetic patient wants to feel special – period.  When a patient is spending their own money and time on elective
cosmetic enhancement, they want to be treated respectfully, professionally and kindly by every person they encounter
in the practice.

They also want to be heard and understood.  There is an old saying that says “Before you can be understood, you must
work to understand” and that is truly the case here.

You build rapport by giving a cosmetic patient your undivided attention.

They have to feel like you are interested in them and what they have to say. That starts with a smile and good eye
contact. The key is to look at the patient more than at the computer or your paperwork.

The point is to show interest in the prospective patient as a person first; patient second.

Find something on the patient intake form you have in common that helps break the ice. Perhaps it’s the referring
patient you both know or maybe your kids go to the same school.

Another way to build rapport is to ask questions and then listen to the answers.

There’s a study that says surgeons interrupt patients within 16 seconds and that cannot happen if you are trying to
connect with a cosmetic patient who’s trying to determine if you are “the one”.

Let them talk.  Not only will the patient give you vital information you need to know to decipher if they are a good fit
for you, the patients will feel like you understand them.

That’s when you have developed rapport and bonded with the patient who now sees you as the best choice.

The point is to look at the consultation as a 2-way dialogue rather than as a 1-way presentation so you build rapport
with the prospective patient who says YES to you!

If you want to learn more about what cosmetic patients want from you, for a limited time, you can get a free copy of
my book called, “Your Aesthetic Practice: What Your Patients are Saying”.

Enjoy!

TESTIMONIALS

5/5
"Catherine outlined a plan that put key metrics in place, gave us a clear plan to follow throughout the year and trained our staff to increase their conversions by at least 10%. Since engaging with Catherine, I’m happy to report that revenues are up 15% over the last three months - 22% in the last month alone! I highly recommend Catherine’s consulting services to any practice looking for “best practice” additions to their operation."
Robert Sigal, MD
Robert Sigal, MD
"I have finally tapped into the most efficient way to grow my cosmetic practice and that is to “fish in the pond of my own patients”. When patients return to my practice, over 85% will purchase another service, product, or procedure. Not only was it worth over $200,000 in revenues this past year, it also reminds my patients I’m still around so they don’t wander off to my competitors. Catherine’s group has far exceeded our expectations and goals we had set up for them to achieve."
Victor Ferrari, MD
Victor Ferrari, MD
"Our consult conversions were running at 40-50%. Then we attended Catherine’s online training and implemented her strategies. They immediately increased conversion rates to 75-80%."
Anthony Corrado, MD
Anthony Corrado, MD
"I know how to run a profitable practice; however, it was not without major staff issues, inefficiencies and unproductive drama. With Catherine's guidance, I reorganized staff, set up processes for them to carry more of the workload and hold them accountable so I have more time to focus on patient care. The changes we put in place and the staff training to convert more callers and consultations will easily increase my revenues by 15% as well as save us time, money and costly mistakes. "
Evan Sorokin, MD
Evan Sorokin, MD
"Working with Catherine and her team has been very profitable. We’re only half way through the year and I’m up $200K and I’m booked out for the next 2 months even though we typically go into our slow summer months now. Her recent promotion brought in an extra $63,782 with more surgeries scheduled. I never realized how much money was sitting in my patient list but I’m a believer now!"
Robert Langdon, MD
Robert Langdon, MD
"Catherine Maley has one of the best Marketing Minds in the aesthetic industry, bar none. She understands the aesthetic patient and she also understands the challenges and frustrations we face as aesthetic surgeons. You will benefit from Catherine's tools whether you are new in practice or a seasoned professional.Turn to Catherine for guidance - she knows what she's talking about."
Edwin Williams, MD
Edwin Williams, MD
“Catherine’s Cosmetic Patient Marketing Service has been a great addition to our practice-building overall plan. While we still invest in our online presence, we also found immense value in the internal marketing efforts. We especially like that all results are tracked so we know we are getting a great return ... last year it was 1,148% and no staff time was used. That’s a much easier way to grow my cosmetic practice.”
Mark Mason, MD
Mark Mason, MD
"Catherine Maley turned our practice around. We converted more consultations in one week than we did in an entire month. Our practice went from a painful 50% no show rate to a remarkable 85% show rate. Even more impressive was our close ratio - from 35% to 80% and still increasing. We would recommend her to any practice that’s looking to not only increase their profits today, but sustain a healthy flow of income for many years to come. Thanks Catherine!"
Sam Assassa, MD
Sam Assassa, MD
"Catherine found me the best patient care coordinator I could have asked for. She worked out a payment plan that was fair to me and motivating to my coordinator. She also provided training tools to help my coordinator convert better, even though she was already experienced. The results have been phenomenal. So good, in fact, that my income increased 250% and I’m booked out for 3 months. Don’t waste any more time or money doing it yourself. Outsource to someone you trust!"
Andrew Lofman, MD
Andrew Lofman, MD
"Since we’ve been working with Catherine and her team for the past 5 months, we’ve brought in $79K in surgeries and have booked an additional 17 surgical procedures and 20 non-invasive body procedures since then. This does not include the additional new patient referrals and revenues we are seeing from the on-going nurturing of my current patient database."
Verne Weisberg, MD
Verne Weisberg, MD
"I had given my staff the goal to convert at least $35K per week in surgeries AND I gave them the tools to help which was Catherine’s Online Learning Center at More Patients Academy. They watched Catherine’s modules and implemented her strategies and converted $80K! That equaled a 2,550% ROI. Nice!"
Adam Stein, MD
Adam Stein, MD
READ MORE
Catherine Maley

Catherine Maley

Catherine is a business/marketing consultant to plastic surgeons. She speaks at medical conferences all over the world on practice building, marketing and the business side of plastic surgery. Get a Free Copy of her popular book, Your Aesthetic Practice: What Your Patients Are Saying View Author Profile.

More To Explore