If you want your practice to stand out from the crowd, you (the owner) have to be prepared to stand out first.
Your practice is a reflection of you. Your team is a reflection of you. In simple terms, the best way to differentiate your practice and stand out from the crowd, is not to cut back on costs when times are tough but to invest in the right areas of your practice; your patients and your staff.
To start off, here are 13 quick and easy things you can implement in your practice from today to differentiate your services from your competitors. See what they all do and decide to do it differently:
1. If your competitors have long waiting times, guarantee less than a 15-minute wait.
2. If your competitors never have same day appointments available, keep a section of your diary open for same day appointments.
3. If your competitors have cold, curt receptionists, make sure you have an open, friendly receptionist
4. If other practices make the patient fill out five pages of repetitive information, auto-complete as much as you can to save them time and hassle.
5. Offer free WI-FI, help yourself refreshments, comfy gowns / slippers, make-up remover and other essential bathroom items.
6. Offer a more relaxing, pampering environment.
7. Share three facts that differentiate you from all other clinics
8. Show updated before/after photos of similar patients
9. Ask your patients to watch patient interviews
10. Perform computer imaging and/or skin analysis
11. Show your patients videos of the procedures
12. Let your patients touch breast implants, skin care products, etc.
13. Show and tell your patients about articles written and talks given about the procedures
Most aesthetic practices are all the same as far as a patient is concerned. So spruce up your practice for a better patient experience. Train your staff continually so they promote you professionally. Learn the most effective patient-attraction strategies. Build better relationships with your patients so they return and refer.
By taking the time and effort now to attract the right aesthetic patient to your practice and start nurturing the relationship, it will prompt them to return again and again for treatments, procedures and products that will help them look and feel better. As you know, your practice is not a one-off treatment or procedure.
Quite honestly, an investment in continual improvement of your own practice and your patient care processes is an investment that will give you big returns both now and when you’re ready to exit the business.
If you are finding yourself constantly obsessing about your competition, I have an exercise that will give you some valuable insights into their strengths and weaknesses relative to your own and show you exactly where you need to innovate and improve to stay one step ahead.
Click on the button below to learn more.
Best Wishes
Pam