Patients Aren’t Just Buying A Treatment: They’re Buying You!
In a previous article which explained why aesthetics practitioners don’t need to compete on price, we mentioned the other factors which determine why new patients will book an appointment with you.
You are selling a feeling.
You’re in the people business, you’re getting up close and personal and touching other people’s faces and bodies - it couldn’t be more human. You’re not selling teapots or handbags, in fact, you’re not even really selling Botox or lip fillers. You’re selling a feeling, a state-of-mind - you’re selling confidence, happiness, contentment, self-esteem, positivity. You’re selling something intangible, something that is priceless - and you want patients to know you’re the person who can give it to them.
Who Are You?
Who you are matters to the kind of patients you want to attract (we cover who your patients are here). It doesn’t really matter what kind of person you are, what really matters is telling people what kind of person you are.
Your patients will choose you because they identify with you. They get a good feeling about you. They like you, they want to meet you - they want to be treated by you. They’re buying you because they have either a subconscious or active emotional response to you.
I Don’t Like Talking About Myself
Telling people who you are, doesn’t mean sharing your innermost feelings and thoughts on social media. It doesn’t mean you have to make TikToks and Reels and dance around your clinic clicking your fingers (unless you’re that kind of person!). Telling people who you are is represented through your raison d'être; your branding, your values, how you present yourself, what ‘vibe’ you give off. It doesn’t matter if that’s fun or formal, silly or serious, show-off or shy. You don’t have to be someone you’re not, you just need to be someone.
When you join GlowdayPRO you have the opportunity to write a biography about yourself. We know that many practitioners struggle with this. The instinct is to be formal (which is likely a hangover from the clinical/medical world you’re used to) and to talk mostly about your qualifications, experience and processes. This is important information and if you have specialisms and significant experience, it’s crucial to tell people. It’s just as important to tell them who you are, why you do what you do and what your ethos and values are.
Patients want to know what type of person you are. We’re not saying it’s like creating a Tinder profile, but it’s like creating a Tinder profile. You want to attract people.
Things to tell people
What lead you to being a nurse, doctor, dentist, pharmacist
How you got into aesthetics, was there a ‘aha moment’
Your favourite patient story (you don’t have to identify them)
Your favourite treatments and why you love doing them
What you hope people say about you as a person
What you want patients to feel when they leave your clinic
What you enjoy in your personal life
Who your role model is
Why you believe aesthetic treatments are important
What drives you
What makes you happy?
Fun facts: death row meal, favourite song, dream dinner party guests, fave holiday destination, best film of all time.
The answers to these things will be different for different practitioners but they will give your patients a sense of you, who you are, if you’re their kind of person. For some you won’t be - that’s okay - you can’t be all things to all people nor should you try to be!
Being informal doesn’t mean being unprofessional. Most patients feel intimidated by medical professionals, they do want to know you’re an ordinary human like them too, they need a connection. Revealing the things that make you tick as a human doesn’t make you unprofessional (your calibre is demonstrated through your qualifications, training and experience) it makes you relatable.
I Want To Be Anonymous
There will be some patients who don’t give a fig what kind of person you are - they will consider you as a supplier and a service. Period. They don’t want chit chat and feelings. They want to get in and out. And actually, that may well be a valid proposition for you. If that's the kind of patient you want, then being slightly untouchable, serious, formal, cold and yeah, arrogant, will attract that tribe for you. However, almost all successful businesses have got to where they are because they have built and maintained a relationship with their customers, which in turn engenders loyalty - so bare that in mind.
What makes you special? What’s your unique selling point?
Find Your Niche
Tell people what you’re really really good at. What you love most. Perhaps you’re passionate about treating acne, obsessed with the perfect lip, fixated on frown lines. Maybe you’re keen to help patients who are in a certain stage of their life: new mums, corporate go-getters, menopausal women, transgender men. It doesn’t mean you’re defined by this thing, it doesn’t mean you aren’t good at all the other things - but it gives you a hook, a specialism - it makes you stand out and gives you a point of difference to talk about.
Get The Basics Sorted
Patients will research you on social media. Even if they’ve found you on Glowday or via Google, most patients will check if you have an Instagram or Facebook page. They’ll want to find out more about you and they know social media is a good place to have a peek into your world.
Make it easy for them to find you, there will be lots of IG names that are similar to yours so make sure when they click on your @thisismyclinc handle, your actual name is in the little biography along with a description of what you do.
They know they’re in the right place now.
If your page is full of inspirational quotes and images of glossy skincare products your supplier gave you, this isn’t going to cut it. New patients want more, they want depth, they want colour. Remember, most of them will never have even heard of medical grade skincare so a photo of some Vitamin C product isn’t going to make them book with you.
There are three key things they want to see:
You
Before and after photos
Info about the treatment they think they want
This is where you can come alive and tell people who you are. Don’t feel pressured that you have to be fun and frivolous if that’s not who you are - being authentic is equally important. Don’t feel stressed because you don’t know how to make a reel. Don’t get in a tizz because you hate talking to the camera and feel self-conscious about doing a story. These are great tools, they’re engaging, they entertain and people do like to consume them. But they are not the be-all and end-all. It’s less about the format, more about the presence, you won’t fail if you don’t do these things!
Dr Emily has a good mixture of educational information, posts of herself and before and after photos.
Your Shop Window
Back to the three key things patients want to see. What greets a potential new patient when they hit your social media account will have an impact. Your social media is your virtual shop window and patients are looking through the glass (or the grid) and they’re deciding if they want to come inside and buy you.
You - You should definitely, wholeheartedly feature in posts - but they don’t have to be crazy reels and flashy videos if that’s not your thing. Images of you and your clinic will instantly provide new patients with a flavour of who you are, visually. Use the caption to talk about yourself and don’t be afraid to be informal! The Things To Tell People points above can all be used for separate posts - you don’t have to use arty-farty images - use photos of you.
Before and after photos are crucial - if you’re not showing off your work, why? Make no mistake, potential patients will pour over images of the treatment they think they need. They’ll check to see if it looks fake, if they think it looks good, if they can see a difference. A before and after photo can make the difference between someone booking with you or deciding not to because they haven’t seen your work. It doesn’t really matter that they probably don’t even know what they’re looking for, technically, they simply need to be there.
Reviews from other patients are great! GlowdayPRO collects these automatically for you, you can use them on your social media. New patients will feel reassured by endorsements from other people even more so when they know they’re genuine and verified, as they are via GlowdayPRO.
Facts about treatments: does it hurt, how much does it cost, how long does it last? GlowdayPRO provides you with assets you can use. Glowday’s instagram accounts and the blog on Glowday.com provide you with LOADS of content you can use and abuse at your pleasure. You don’t need to make the graphics, we do it for you.
Branding
Telling people who you are happens almost by osmosis through your brand identity. Does your clinic reflect you, does the name of your clinic represent what you’re offering? Do the colours you use in your logo suit your personality? What colour is your clinic? Is it warm and welcoming or clinical and modern? Do you dress in colourful funky scrubs or wear a white coat? Do you have KISS on the radio or plinky plonky lift music? It doesn’t really matter what it is, but whatever it is will tell people something about you.
What does your brand say about you? Does it really reflect you? Is it right for your market?
The Bit Where We Contradict Ourselves
All of this advice about communicating who you are, being authentic and attracting your tribe, does come with a caveat. It assumes you’re in a perfect environment with a large potential patient pool. But that isn't always the situation. There are times when you may have to shapeshift because it makes more business sense. Not everyone operates in large cities. You don’t always get to choose your target market, you may be in a situation where your target market is chosen for you.
For example, if you’re setting up your clinic in a sleepy, countryside location where your patients are likely to be mostly in their 40s and 50s, designing a clinic with bare brick walls, polished concrete floors, industrial fittings and punky posters, might not be right for your limited market (even if that’s what you’d really like to do). If you’re setting up in a small town in the Welsh valleys where you’re likely to serve young women in their 20s and 30s, a high-end, white, shiny, white-coats and high-tech image, may turn your limited pool away. So while you should never be fake or act in a way that’s unnatural to you, don’t be so self-centred that it alienates the only market you might attract. The point, however, remains - you are still integral to hooking those patients in - even if you have to tone down your penchant for hardcare house and love of tattoos - you need to push yourself forward using your experience, expertise, competency, kindness, compassion and friendliness as your ammunition.
You Are Your Best Marketing Tool!
The conclusion to all of this is that YOU are at the centre of your business. Don’t underestimate how important it is to tell your patients who you are - don’t be a faceless business. Whether you’re ‘full on’ you or moulding yourself slightly to suit your market, make yourself front and centre of your aesthetics clinic. Tell people what makes you good, tell people why you’re unique, tell people what kind of person you are, tell them what matters to you, what values you hold. Tell them what feeling you’re going to give them and how and why you’re the person to help them.
Go get ‘em!