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Tired of Cheap Cosmetic Patients?

Cosmetic patients today are so price-focused (cheap), it can drive you crazy.

You get leads but most of the time it starts with the one question which is…. “How much is it?” 

Or, during your consultation with them, they attempt to negotiate with you or your coordinator by letting you know they can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere. 

Really? Is that really true? Do they really believe all surgeons are the same? 

Actually, due to the overwhelming information on the Internet and insane marketing efforts, consumers do start to believe that. 

So what do you do about cheap cosmetic patients? 

On the one hand, you want to be fairly compensated for your skills, expertise, and the years you’ve put into building your practice and great reputation. 

But, on the other hand, you don’t want to lose to your discounting competitors. It’s so frustrating to have to decide how to deal with these price-shoppers, isn’t it?

You have several pricing choices: 

  • You can slash your prices to match the discounters in your area 
  • You can DO better, BE better and charge more than your competitors 
  • You can strategically offer a balance of price, results and service

The first option is not a good one. If you lead with price, you set the tone for your relationship with that new patient forever.

We all know how difficult it is to upsell a discount-minded cosmetic patient who came to you initially for the price (because they will also leave for price just as fast) so this is NOT a good strategy. 

Increase your cost

The second option is to BE better by charging more than your competitors because you are seen as the expert in the media. 

You get that expert status by building a name in your community through active community involvement as well as PR. 

Just know, PR is great when you can get it, but it doesn’t usually just fall into your lap. 

It typically takes time, money, and effort to get that kind of coverage. 

I believe your best strategy is the last one, which is to offer a balance of price, results, and service.

Be congruent in your practice

You have to back up your higher prices with better service, results, and the experience the new patient has with you. 

Because even though this is an emotional decision for them, they also need logical reasons to explain to others why they chose you. 

Details count since the patient is looking for clues to justify spending more with you than the discounting competitor. That includes the quality of your: 

  • Website updated “look and feel” 
  • Your excellent before/after photos 
  • Your interesting Instagram account 
  • Your educational and entertaining videos on YouTube 
  • Your positive online reviews 
  • Your receptionist’s friendly phone voice and skills 
  • The rest of your staff’s customer service skills 
  • Your office location and furnishings 
  • You and your staff’s hair, makeup, clothes, shoes, etc. 

And, if you don’t want cheap cosmetic patients, I suggest you don’t cater to them anymore.

Stop advertising specials to total strangers on the Internet. 

Instead, educate them on what makes you the better choice over the lower price. 

Start attracting a better quality cosmetic patient by stepping up your game so you attract the cosmetic patients who care more about your skill, expertise, and reputation than they do about the cheapest price. 

cheap cosmetic patients

Tune in to my Podcast Beauty and the Biz – EP 124: Tired of Cheap Cosmetic Patients

Check me out on YouTube:

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"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
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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.

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