Is Your Cosmetic Practice Set Up To Win?

Is your cosmetic practice set up to win? Cosmetic practice growth comes from clarity, focus and discipline. It’s the courage to identify the issues holding you back and fixing them. 

Why? Because you can’t fix what you don’t know. You also can’t stick your head in the sand and do what you’ve always done or you’ll get left behind. 

Brutal honesty is needed here. Where are your problem areas holding you back from more patients and profits? Do you know or are you just guessing?

Are you sure that’s it or is there something else that’s broken that you don’t know about or haven’t been willing to address?

Let’s find out….. 

A great place to start is with this 9-Point Assessment…you have the clarity you need to focus on what’s most important for your practice and your revenues to grow.

Simply answer yes or no to the following questions to see if your set up to win:

1. DO YOU HAVE A MARKETING PLAN THAT USES SEVERAL PATIENT ATTRACTION LEAD GENERATION STRATEGIES?

Cosmetic patients today live on multi-media channels and want info the way they want it.

• Some prospective patients want to follow you on Facebook
• Many want to look at your pics and videos on Instagram
• Some want to watch you dance on TikTok – kidding, but get in early
• Some want to read your blog posts
• Most want to read about you from your other cosmetic patients
• Some want to go through your website with a fine-tooth comb

So, you need a strategy to create and distribute content everywhere prospective patients may be so you get their attention.

1. ARE YOU ABLE TO TRACK WHERE YOUR NEW LEADS ARE COMING FROM?

It’s way too expensive to advertise today and NOT know what’s working. When I consult with practices, we pull the reports that tell us the referral source.

However, the data can be inaccurate when we learn:

• The receptionist never asked the caller how they heard about youThe receptionist clicked on the first drop-down referral source because the computer system won’t let her continue without choosing somethingOr the patient left it blank on the patient in-take forms and nobody askedOr the patient said “the internet” when asked on the phone. Once she visits and gets more comfortable, she opens up about a friend referring her. She then Googled you, went to your website, and then your IG to check you out

1. DOES YOUR STAFF RESPOND TO NEW LEADS IMMEDIATELY?

• The stats show that 48% of offices don’t follow up on internet leads. They are too busy or don’t think they are good quality leads, so why bother
• Or some practice staff follow up days later, and by then, the lead has grown cold, or their competitors have already reached out
• Whoever follows up first has the 1st responder advantage. So, you need a system to jump on these leads immediately while they’re hot

1. DOES YOUR PHONE STAFF CONVERT AT LEAST 60% OF THE CALLERS TO APPOINTMENTS?

The phone experience a prospective patient has with your practice is taken way too lightly in most practices. Keep in mind that new patients will never meet you if they can’t get past your receptionist.

Most surgeons have spent a fortune on their website, but not enough on the phone skills of their receptionist who represent them.

• The prospective patient has checked out your website and is excited to connect with you but then changes their mind when calling your office.
• They got the answering machine, an annoying phone tree, or an indifferent receptionist who didn’t bother bonding with the caller.

My team and I have been doing mystery shopping for more than 20 years, and here’s what I know for sure…..EVERY practice can use help in this area. 

And just because you trained them once doesn’t mean they stay trained. Calls monitored, scripts followed, and accountability needs to be in place, so every call is handled professionally.

1. DOES YOUR COORDINATOR CONVERT AT LEAST 60% OF THE CONSULTATIONS TO BOOKED PROCEDURES?

This is where the rubber meets the road as they say. All the money, time, and effort you have expended to attract new cosmetic patients to you begins and ends here.

Leads are just leads until the prospective patient says yes and gives you money.

Are you sure you have the right person in this position who can professionally represent you, go over the quote, and ask for a decision? Too many practices have hired a “nice” coordinator who is friendly and easy to work with YET, they don’t know how to close.

Either they haven’t been trained to or they have resistance to it but either way, it’s costing you a fortune in wasted time and lost revenues.

1. DOES YOUR STAFF FOLLOW UP PROFESSIONALLY ON LEADS THAT DO NOT CONVERT?

• Let’s say you have a great coordinator but for some reason, she drops the ball if she can’t convert them at the consultation.
• Maybe she assumes they will call back if they have questions or are ready to book or maybe she thinks they are lost causes.
• What usually happens is she may email or call them once and say the standard, “so, did you have any more questions” and when they say, no, they are still thinking about it, she drops them in the dead lead file and they are gone forever.
• The decision-making process for a plastic surgery patient has gotten so confusing with so many choices, they often do need to think about it. 
• But that’s why you need to be there helping them think.
• That takes skills and strategies to move that thinking patient to a yes patient.
• I guarantee you are losing at least 15% of your revenues if you do NOT have a solid plan in place for following up on leads.

To learn more, listen to Ep.05: Fix Your Follow Up on my Beaty and the Biz Podcast

1. DO YOU SYSTEMATICALLY ASK FOR REFERRALS, REVIEWS, AND RETAIN PATIENTS?

Here is where the most money is left on the table. You see the patient as a one-hit-wonder rather than as a raving fan who returns, refers, and reviews.

When you shift your mindset and consider the lifetime value of a cosmetic patient, you make more money and work smarter.

You already did the hard part when you attracted a new patient to your practice. With minimal effort, you encourage them to return more often, give you great reviews, and brag about you their friends and family.

A cosmetic practice has always and will continue to grow on word of mouth referrals. That’s why you set up processes to get as much value from each cosmetic patient.

And this is the best part of our industry……cosmetic patients have endless needs, especially as the aging process and trends continue.

1. DO YOU HOLD YOUR STAFF ACCOUNTABLE, SO YOU KNOW PROCESSES ARE BEING FOLLOWED?

Most surgeons I consult with feel as if they don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.

• They complain they have to micro-manage staff and wish they would just do their job.
• They are frustrated with their staff and hold a quiet resentment towards them because they are supposed to make the surgeon’s life easier – not harder.
• If you, too, have felt that – there is a better way.
• Rather than think like a surgeon, you must think like a businessperson.
• That means setting up protocols just like you do for surgery, but you do it also for lead generation, patient conversion, patient follow up and so on.
• When done correctly, the staff has clarity and you have peace of mind knowing the right things are getting done to grow your practice.

1. CAN YOU EASILY PULL REPORTS THAT HELP YOU MAKE BETTER BUSINESS DECISIONS?

When I was in business school getting my MBA, they harped on reporting and how important it was.

At the time, I thought looking at the bottom line was enough. That was naïve on my part because by then, it’s too late to do anything to fix it. 

Knowing your numbers through the right weekly and monthly reports tells you vital data.

First, it takes the guesswork and the anecdotal assumptions out of it, and it tells you if you are on track or if you need to pivot. 

The right data, good or bad, helps you make better business decisions because numbers don’t lie. They are there to help you see what’s really going on in your practice.

There are only a few key metrics that make all the difference. The secret is to stay focused on those key metrics and NOT be distracted by the endless chatter promising you bliss if you just do this one thing.

Ok, that was a lot. You either feel really good right now that you were able to say yes to these practice fundamentals or you feel not so good. 

Just so you know, the average cosmetic practice can only answer yes to a few of these questions, usually because they don’t know how, or they have not had to perfect their practice fundamentals…YET.

But only the best will survive and flourish because they have perfected their practice fundamentals that keep their revenues flowing.

Let’s talk if you’re not satisfied with your current results. I guarantee you’ll have clarity and structure to run your practice more like a well-run business.