KISS YOUR PATIENTS
No, we don’t mean snog your next Botox client or even give them a peck. Unless that’s your thing.
The KISS principle is an acronym for keep it simple, stupid, a design principle used by U.S. Navy back in the sixties.
The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. It’s a principle that’s now embraced by many businesses when considering all aspects of their functions.
Why It Applies To You
The world of beauty and non-surgical aesthetics is vast and confusing for most consumers. Even understanding what type of cleanser to use is enough to make women feel stressed, let alone knowing what injectable they should put in their face.
The amount of information, products and advice is overwhelming. You’re an expert in your field, you know a lot and you largely operate in an echo chamber where you live, breath, eat and sleep the world of aesthetics. The procedures, treatments, products, devices are so familiar to you, it can be easy to forget that this world is alien to most people, so you fall into a place where you discuss treatments assuming everyone has the same knowledge as you do. They do not.
Consumers Know Nothing
The average woman will know very little about non surgical aesthetics. When you’re talking to patients whether it’s on social media, in person, over email or text message it’s wise to remember you’re speaking to people who don’t think about this world 24/7. In fact, it will consume very little of their head space. They’ll mull over it when they look in the mirror or get chatting to friends about their looks, but that’s it, the subject passes. It’s not a hobby, they’re unlikely to follow dozens of injectors on their social media, they won’t have alerts set up for the latest Botox news.
Keep it simple, stupid.
There might be some patients who want to understand the science behind a treatment or the different consistencies of filler, but on the whole patients will just want to know if a treatment will work for them.
When you’re communicating to your patients you should keep your information as simple as possible, using familiar terms and avoiding medical jargon. Don’t assume your patients know what ‘one area’ means, have ever heard the term vascular occlusion or have a clue about the anatomical names for the face. Patients will talk in terms of what’s bothering them ‘I hate my saggy neck’, ‘those two lines between my forehead are bad now’, ‘my skin looks craggy’. Use the phrases that patients say, don’t try to be too academic or precise with your language, it makes it hard for the patient to relate to you and they won’t realise that what you’re talking about is the same thing that’s bothering them about their own face.
Address The Misconceptions
Use your consultations, social media and marketing to address the barriers that stop patients booking an appointment, despite really wanting the treatment.
It hurts
It’s too risky
It could go wrong
I’ll look fake
If I start I’ll have to do it forever etc.
Most of the time it’s not the actual treatment that holds consumers back from booking, it’s the perception, stigma and incorrect beliefs that surround the treatments.
Patients, really, just want to see results and they want to feel reassured that it’s safe and it’s right for them.
KISS ‘EM
The key thing for you to remember is to keep it simple when talking to patients. Don’t overcomplicate what you do, even though what you do is, as we all know, rather complicated! Don’t over-intellectualise it, save that for your private forums with other medics and just KISS your patients.