Want More Cosmetic Patients Choosing YOU? (Ep.191)

Want More Cosmetic Patients Choosing YOU?

Catherine Maley, MBA:

Let me ask you this…

In your own life, how and why did you choose a certain accountant, financial advisor, dentist or contractor?

Typically, it’s because you researched online. They had a nice website and good reviews.

Or you heard about them from your friend, family member, neighbor or colleague who had a great experience with them. That provider gave them great service, was easy to do business with and did good work.

They trusted that provider to take good care of you and solve a problem you have and that’s why they referred them to you.

The same goes for cosmetic patients choosing you. Except that it’s multiplied due to the nature of your services.

You have the skills to alter someone’s appearance, so they look better and then feel better and more confidant as they move through life.

That’s a tall order because it’s extremely personal. That decision is full of emotions: fear, uncertainty, doubt and worry.

Somehow, you have to get across to them that that they will get the best possible outcome for their particular concern, and they will not regret it.

So, here are 3 ways for more cosmetic patients to be choosing you:

1. Specialize – You Can’t Be Everything to Everybody

I know you want all the business you can possibly get your hands on, and for more cosmetic patients to be choosing you, but that is not how you grow your name and reputation.

Getting very good and well known for a particular procedure has so many benefits.

It helps you focus and get a lot of experience with that procedure. Your results are better when you do something often versus periodically.

Patients start talking about you to their social circle whenever that procedure comes up. That could be their immediate friends and family, but also their facebook groups and social media followers.

You become synonymous with that procedure and are seen as the expert. That’s your free advertising. Your referrals will grow. The demand for your services will grow. You’ll raise your prices because the “right patients” will pay more for specialized services.

Here’s what you do to make that happen, so that more cosmetic patients will be choosing you…

Find a niche in your marketplace and cater to it. Sometimes this happens organically but, usually, you have to create it and then grow it, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

This is the vital piece….define your specialized procedure and target market by defining the criteria of your perfect aesthetic patients. That includes

Age

Gender

Zip code

Lifestyle and hobbies

Interest groups defined by associations or memberships

Occupation-based such as lawyers, professionals, stay-at-home moms

Ethnic/religious groups

Life events including marriage, babies and divorce

Now that you defined WHO, HOW to get in front of them is the next step.

Cater to those demographic groups. Join clubs they belong to. Attend events they attend and speak at association functions they are involved in. 

Locate your office in the same vicinity.  Become one of them.  They will see you as the only choice for them because they are familiar with you and more cosmetic patients will be choosing you. 

The beauty of catering to a certain demographic is the referral base that grows from it.  Like-minded people spend time together, work together and play together.  They will talk about you to their friends and family and grow your word-of-mouth faster than you ever could on your own. 

Now build an arsenal of social proof to build trust with other prospective patients who are also looking for your specialized services, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

That includes an updated website, lots of reviews and plenty of before/after photos that reassure would-be patients you are the only choice.

But go a step further… Publish clinical papers, write a consumer book or free guide, and let your non-competing colleagues know you appreciate their referrals.  You might even grab the attention of the media who wants to interview you or showcase your talents in their next issue or episode, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

To make this more practical, here is a Case Study of how a surgeon Built Trust Through Specialization

A plastic surgeon with 10 years of experience in a hospital setting decided to go out on his own. He wanted to return to his hometown and practice in an affluent suburb; however, it was saturated with other plastic surgeons, and he was late to the marketplace.

Even though he could do face and body, he knew he would drown in “me too” services to compete. So, he decided to focus on rhinoplasty.

His website focused on it, he wrote papers on it, spoke at conferences and public events on it, and got involved in the community.

He hired a PR agency specializing in digital marketing to help spread the word. He received offers to be interviewed, speak and be an expert guest on blogs, facebook groups and consumer webinars.

He also reached out to his fellow plastic surgeons and let them know his focus was on rhinoplasty and not body work.

He is now 5 months booked out and couldn’t be happier.

But this also includes a Warning: Specialization Takes Time and Courage

This approach takes an unwavering decision to commit and stay the course for the long run. It was crickets for two years and he wondered if he was going to make it.

You have to pull from deep within to trust yourself and your skills and NOT waffle. You decide, put the flag in the sand and stay focused. Basically, you burn the boats so you have to succeed because you don’t have another plan.

Another surgeon wanted to grow his non-surgical side of the practice as well as his surgical side so he became the “Go To Expert” on repairing silicon lip injections.

In his area, this was a big deal to a certain population who had this problem so he treated a couple of the women and they referred him not only to their friends and family but also raved about him in their private facebook groups.  

Now he enjoys a steady stream of new patients who come to you for a lip treatment and then stay for additional services, treatments, procedures and products.  And then, they will refer their friends and so on.

2.Build Trust Using Your Branding, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you

Start with your marketing efforts that create your brand .  How many aesthetic patients have you not attracted due to your poor marketing materials and lack of unique branding?  More than you think. 

A new aesthetic patient who has not yet developed a relationship with you has to go by clues as to who you are and what you value. 

They will look at your materials or assets to help determine that.  Even an aesthetic patient who has been referred to you will solidify that referral by observing your personality through your marketing tools and branding.

So, it is your logo, tagline, website graphics, content, pricing, ads and your social media that tells them who you are, which will help for more cosmetic patients to be choosing you.

It’s also anything else connected to you that builds your brand.

It is your hair, shoes, clothes, and demeanor.  It is your staff’s hair, clothes, makeup and demeanor.

It is your office furniture, lighting, ambience, décor, towels, and products in your restrooms.

It is the smooth flow of an aesthetic patient’s experience while visiting you and going through the process. It’s your follow up.  It’s all the details that make up your brand for more cosmetic patients to be choosing you.

3.Build Trust by Building Rapport

If you take the time to build trust with your aesthetic patients, they will stay loyal to you and refer their friends to you for years to come.

Aesthetic patients go to service providers they like.  Again, think about the service providers in your own life – your car mechanic, your hair stylist, your accountant – all get your business because they have a good relationship with you and that counts as much as the service they provide.

You build trust with your aesthetic patients by developing personal rapport with them and having integrity in the eyes of your aesthetic patients, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you. 

You build personal rapport by finding what you have in common with your aesthetic patient.  It could be your kids going to the same school or you are both from the East Coast or whatever. 

People like people who are like them so look for the commonalities, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

And, you build integrity by saying what you believe to be true, by giving your aesthetic patients the best reasonable result possible and by doing what you say you’re going to do. 

Your aesthetic patients want to know that your recommendations would be the same if you were talking to your own family member and that they are not just the next procedure for you.

The bottom line is trust.  Your aesthetic patient must trust you emphatically.  They must believe and be reassured that you are the best choice for them.

And that’s how you get more cosmetic patients to choose you.

For more branding, business and marketing strategies that grow your cosmetic revenues, check out .

It’s the WHAT and the HOW that sets you up for success…

Because If you want to build a practice your competitors envy, you can’t rely on luck. You do it with the right mindset, strategies, consistent execution and outside counsel who has a bigger perspective to help, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

The cosmetic practice vault is your playbook you turn to when you’re stuck or stagnant or need a new plan, or when new staff come on board.

 Here’s what’s included:

24 training videos with courses and powerpoint slides packed with tips, strategies, and graphics

10+ Hours of mind-expanding content

44 Business Strategies

85 Marketing Strategies

77 “Swipe & Deploy” graphics

44 Proven Scripts to convert, follow up, write ads, and conduct staff interviews

So, it’s your resource standing by whenever you… 

• Need more leads or better leads from more quality cosmetic patients
• Differentiate yourself from your competitors
• Need more effective advertising strategies
• Want to see at a glance how you’re doing
• How to cross promote ALL of your services so you never hear, “I didn’t know you did that”
• Want to hire A-Players who have your back
• Hire new front desk staff to convert more callers to appointments
• Need your patient coordinator to convert more consultations
• Need a social media strategy, and a whole lot more

There’s no fluff. I took everything I’ve learned from my 23 years of working with hundreds of cosmetic practices and testing what works and what doesn’t, so more cosmetic patients will be choosing you.

This was truly a labor of love and a ton of work went into it so please visit www.CosmeticPracticeVault.com and let’s grow your cosmetic revenues. 

Everybody that’s going to wrap it up for us today, a Beauty and the Biz and this episode on “Want More Cosmetic Patients Choosing YOU?”.

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

If you’ve enjoyed this episode on Beauty and the Biz, 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 we will talk to you again soon. Take care.

The fastest way to success is to model other successful surgeons who have what you want, but you can only see their results, not the path they took to get there.

So, you continue to jump from one thing to another, hoping to find something that will work for you too, but it rarely does. So, try this shortcut instead. It’s guaranteed to move you forward. I compiled my intellectual property to grow cosmetic revenues, everything I’ve gleaned over the years into one playbook of the most successful practices and what they do to win.

Go to www.CosmeticPracticeVault.com and let’s grow your cosmetic revenue.

-End transcript for “Want More Cosmetic Patients Choosing YOU?”.