Turn Staff Into Money-Makers (Ep.153)

Turn Staff Into Money-Makers

Hello, and welcome to Beauty and the Biz where we talk about the business and marketing side of plastic surgery and how to turn staff into money-makers. I’m your host, Catherine Maley, author of Your Aesthetic Practice – What your patients, are saying as well as consultant to plastic surgeons, to get them more patients and more profits. Now, today’s episode is called “Turn Staff Into Money-Makers”.

Do you ever feel like even though you’re paying several staff people to support you, you still feel responsible for things getting done or they just don’t happen?

Or you wish your staff would step up and care as much as you do about growing your practice?

The reality is your team will never care as much as you do since they have not made the investment or taken the risk like you did, however, there’s plenty they can do to help you grow when you turn staff into money-makers.

The first thing to do is to treat your staff like the practice-building secret weapon that they are. Make them feel part of the practice and appreciate them for their importance to you.

Also, make them a part of the decision-making process and give them goals to strive for that include profit sharing or perks when they reach them. This is key in order to turn staff into money-makers.

For example, I’ll lay (4) ways your staff can make you money and then I suggest meeting with them, reviewing these strategies and letting them decide how to execute them.

Here we go…

Money-making strategy #1 to help turn staff into money-makers:

Name one of your team members to be your in-house social media practice ambassador, even if you have an outside agency doing your social media.

It’s usually very obvious when you have outsourced your social media. It looks flat and commercial and you can tell if it’s working or not by the likes and comments you get or don’t get…

Your social media needs personality and that comes straight from your office, from you and from your team showing off the inner workings or the behind-the-scenes happenings in your practice.

Because the challenging irony with social media in our industry is that social media is so “social”. You’re telling everyone your business, so privacy flies out the window. 

I hear plastic surgeons say all the time social media doesn’t work because my patients are private, and they won’t interact with me.

That’s not really true and I would question your beliefs about that because there is plenty of proof to the contrary, so I suggest going on Instagram and checking out your colleagues to see how they are able to do it.

Here’s the thing…social media is super important for your online presence and to attract new prospective patients to you, so here are some pearls to help make this easier so you can turn staff into money-makers ….

Focus on 1-2 platforms

Facebook is a favorite in our industry and they bought Instagram so that makes it easier for you to post once on both platforms.

BTW, Facebook has the most and the best demographics and higher income viewers than the rest of the social media platforms so you may want to try different posts there vs. Instagram which is a faster-paced social media platform.

I know TikTok is gaining ground, but it’s mainly an entertainment center for young teenagers who love to watch dance videos so, for now, I would stick with Facebook and Instagram.

But here’s the challenge. Social media audiences want to be entertained so You need good content that is

• Informative
• Interesting
• Entertaining
• And includes your own Personality

So come up with content that is emotional, shows social proof of how great your results are and how happy your patients feel afterwards.

And, tell them what’s going on with you and your staff with updates on your staff birthdays and anniversaries show photos when you are out celebrating as a team

Post any thank you cards and gifts you get from your other happy patients so prospective patients see how much you are loved.

Do a show-and-tell procedure live and then post it so would-be patients can see how easy, painless, fast aesthetic rejuvenation can be.

Invite your followers and their friends to your events and be sure they know they can bring as many friends as they want.

This particular practice did a huge Halloween contest where all their staff dressed to the nines and they gave away football tickets worth $700 to the winner. That’s how you get your patients to interact with you!

And then, of course, flash sales but keep them simple and compelling.

Money-making strategy #2 to help turn staff into money-makers:

Improve the Surgical Post-Op Visit

So much money is left on the table with this one.

A cosmetic patient should never be treated as a One-Hit Wonder.

If they want to look good, they want that for a lifetime so set the tone for them to come back again and again…. forever!

Assign one team member to be in charge of improving your post-op visit so you get the most out of each patient. This is a fantastic way to turn staff into money-makers.

For example:

• That staff person invites the post-op patient back in for:
• You, the surgeon to not only see the patient but ALSO
• Have them pick up a special gift basket or goody bag you’ve put together just for them

Now your gift basket or goody bag can include all sorts of strategic items that turn your patient into a raving fan. Here are some ideas:

• Add product samples to introduce them to your retail so they buy skin care from you rather than spend hundreds of dollars at the retail cosmetic counters at the local mall.
• Include gift cards for them to experience your OTHER services on their next visit, as well as a gift card for their friend so they, too, can experience your practice. They can visit separately or come together so your patient can introduce them to you.
• You can even make them a VIP patient now that they’ve had surgery with you. You can offer them perks such as no-waiting Botox appointments, 10% off retail, free monthly peel, valet parking and so on. The point is to make them feel special and put “golden handcuffs” on them so they don’t wander off to your competitors
• You can add a “Thank you for your trust” note card with their B/A photos enclosed to show their closest friends and family and maybe even their FB and Instagram followers, you never know.
• And lastly, Include Patient Review Kits to make it easy for them to brag about you online because I find most practices don’t do nearly enough to get 5-star reviews. You are either doing nothing and hoping you get good reviews or you’re counting on impersonal technology to do it for you.

I suggest you give them simple instructions for HOW to upload a google review, but also give them starter sentences to write a really good review that other patients want to read. That would include:

The pain they were in and that’s why they wanted cosmetic rejuvenation

Why they chose you (which is why others will)

What you did for them and their journey with you and your team

And how great they feel now about themselves

I would also include a $10 Starbucks card that thanks them for their time.

Money-making strategy #3 to help turn staff into money-makers:

Hold an Annual Photo Shoot. Turn staff into money-makers by having them help.

We all know the 2 most important marketing tools that catapult you to the BEST Choice status is your social proof, right?

It’s so much more important for prospective patients to see other patients’ results and hear their story and read about their experience.

So don’t leave it to chance.

Those who make it a priority and focus on it, get the best and the most photos and reviews so I suggest holding a quarterly or at least annual photo shoot party.

Have your patient coordinator personally call your surgical patients and invite them to your exclusive photo shoot party. Another way you can turn your staff into money-makers.

Explain to them it’s a fun event where they get their hair and makeup done by professionals, so they feel glamorous and super special.

It’s also helpful to serve wine and food since they will be there for a while and you want them in great spirits.

You’ll also have a professional photographer on hand for their very own photo shoot to show off their new look and they get to decide which photos they want shared.

And there will also be a videographer on hand to capture, in their own words, their experience with you and with cosmetic rejuvenation. 

A to top it off, you set up a social media corner with your practice name on the backdrop so your patients can take photos with you, the surgeon and your staff who took such great care of them.

Now they have the choice to share all of this with their social media friends and that spreads the word about you strategically.

Money-making strategy #4 to help turn staff into money-makers:

Is to Hold an Annual Friendly staff Referral contest. This is an excellent way to turn staff into money-makers.

Make up referral cards for all staff and then have them print their initials on it and pass them out all over town to their circle of influence.

They say each of us has on average, a circle of influence of about 250 people and can be a lot more if that includes their friends and followers online.

So, if your team is smart and motivated to win, they’ll pass out referral cards to their friends, gym buddies, yoga friends, hair stylist and so on. An excellent way to spread the word and turn staff into money-makers.

They’ll also spread the word on their personal social media platforms. 

You can have this contest go for 2 weeks or one whole month but no longer than that. Now reward them with gifts or money for:

• Grand Prize for most revenues brought in can be worth an
  iPhone, computer or something else really valuable
• Then other prizes for most cards given out or
• Biggest single amount spent by one patient

You want to be sure everyone who participated is a winner and, if they don’t participate – that’s not good and that needs to be addressed because they are telling you they are not a team player, nor do they care about growing your practice.

Now these strategies take effort, however this is where the money is. If someone doesn’t know you or how great you are, they look for proof.

Prospective cosmetic patients choose you based on how well you can “sell your skills” using social proof, so they feel comfortable moving forward.

Because the last thing they want to do is make a bad decision and regret this.

That’s why word-of-mouth referrals, before/after photos, patient stories and online reviews are the holy grail of patient attraction.

Please work with your staff to execute these strategies to enhance your image, bring in new revenues and make working for you more fun. This is how you turn staff into money-makers.

Catherine Maley, MBA: Thank you so much for your time. And that’s going to wrap it up for us at Beauty and the Biz. So, if you enjoyed it, please head over to Apple Podcasts and give me a review and subscribe to Beauty and the Biz so you don’t miss any episodes. And of course, please share this with your staff and colleagues.

And if you’ve got any questions or feedback, you can go ahead and leave them at my website at www.CatherineMaley.com, or you can certainly DM me on Instagram @CatherineMaleyMBA.

Thanks so much. And we’ll talk again soon.

-End transcript for “turn staff into money-makers”