Marketing Your Aesthetic Practice is Pointless if You Can't Convert New Patient Inquires

Is your sales process broken? Here's one way to find out.

 
As you look to rebuild your practice with paid marketing campaigns, it's important to remember that lead generation is only a part of new patient acquisition.

As soon as someone responds to your ad/post/email, etc., marketing hands things over to sales. And for a lot of practices, this is the point where thousands of dollars are lost.

Over the past several weeks, I've mystery shopped nearly 100 practices from New York to Beverly Hills - calling, submitting forms, sending texts and emails - to inquire about aesthetic treatments, cosmetic procedures, and new COVID-19 protocols.

Here's what I found: 57% of the 98 practices I reached out to received a "passing grade" (meaning I would have scheduled a consultation during my interaction) however, 43% of them did not.

Here's just a few of the reasons why:

• Countless rings, no answer, and one very rude answering service
• Person answering unsure about service offered (but listed on website)
• Person answering was unable to clearly communicate safety protocols
• Person answering seemed uninterested/ bothered by questions
• Telemedicine options were either not offered or not explained well
• Appointment request forms submitted did not receive a response
• Response came several days later after initial inquiry
• Unprofessional text communication
• Poorly constructed emails

Prior to COVID, many practices had enough leads coming in to get away a broken sales system. That won't work today. Every lead needs to be handled properly by knowledgeable and well-trained staff.

Marketing is pointless if you can't convert new patient leads.

So before you hit the gas on Google and Facebook campaigns, make sure your sales process is able to deliver the highest rate of conversion and return on investment possible.

Wondering how your practice would measure up? Simply use an unrecognizable email or phone number to contact your office this week. If your process is broken, reach out to me and I'll help you fix it. 

Connie Kurczewski is the founder of Elevated Practice Consulting, a sales communication and aesthetic practice management firm specializing in front office staff training and business development.