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Med Spa CEO
Answering Your Hottest Questions on How to Handle Price Objections, Raise Your Rates, and Attract High-End Clients
00:35:26
I’ve been collecting your HOTTEST questions over the past few months and I’m answering the ones I get asked the most. I’ll share the mindset and strategy shifts that need to happen if you want to raise your prices, confidently sell your...
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- [00:00]
Heather Turveen
If the business doesn't thrive and survive and isn't, you know, flourishing, everybody suffers. I suffer, the other team members suffer. Eventually my clients are going to suffer because I won't be able to actually continue to serve them at the highest level.
- [00:18]
Podcast Host
Welcome to the Med Spa CEO Podcast, where I teach you how to grow and scale your Med Spa or esthetic practice so that you can have the income and impact you know you were meant for without overwhelm, stress, or feeling.
- [00:32]
Heather Turveen
Like you have to sacrifice your personal.
- [00:34]
Podcast Host
Life and happiness to do so. It's totally possible for you and your business. Plus, simpler than you think. Keep listening to find out how.
- [00:46]
Heather Turveen
Hello my beautiful friend. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I am so pumped you're joining me today for one of my favorite types of episodes. And it's been a hot minute since we did a Frequently Asked Questions episode. I have actually aggregated. Aggregated. I don't use that word every day. All of the questions in the recent, like really in the last six months. But some of these questions, honestly, I've just gotten many, many times over the years to kind of dive in to the hot topic questions that I see many of you asking me and also my clients as well too. So before we dive into the questions, I just am so pumped for the spring. I live in Phoenix, Scottsdale, as you all know, and right now it's March and it's just like I'm so excited for 2025, y'all. I just see there is so much opportunity for each and every one of you that is tuning in here today. And I just want you buckle up because these next few episodes are just going to really help you not have only just an incredible 2025, but do so in a way that's just going to help you with your lifestyle and really making sure that your business is serving you and your family as well too. So without further ado, let's dive in to some of the most frequent frequently asked questions I get from all of you. Okay, so question number one is what do you do when someone isn't ready to purchase your signature package? So this was a question I actually got as a comment on one of my Instagram posts and what I find sometimes with social media content and answering questions, and I've. I've talked recently about this, even with some of my ads, is that I'll get, you know, comments that are. This question I think was a really valid question, but there's only so much I can only so much context I can give in a written comment on a social media post because most of your, your hotbed questions, your hot topic questions, there's nuance and context to it. So what do you do when someone isn't ready to purchase a. Purchase your signature package? And so what I read from this question, from this particular person that asked it, now here's the thing that I've noticed now after coaching hundreds of you and hundreds of your team members is that I really want to know under what is, under what is the thinking that is underneath this question first. Okay, so I'm going to answer the question. Okay, I'm not going to leave an open loop, but many times what I discover when we're kind of peeling the onion is that people are preemptively trying to bypass actually sometimes presenting a bigger package. And so what I mean by this is what I told this gal who asked this question was she was basically like, how do you decide ahead of time on like should, you know, if somebody's not going to be a pa, you know, a candidate for a big package, you know, they should be fine with just a one off service. And I'm, I'm actually fine with you all absolutely value engineering when somebody really isn't a fit or like they. The question I always ask, I even asked my clients and patients when I was working with them is I would give a big number and then I would ask the question, is that investment or is this realistic for you right now? But what I have found is like my certainty and confidence when I was delivering whatever that package and that annual game plan was, was that I wasn't preemptively thinking in my back, back of my mind, I'm already gonna tell them this other thing that is more palatable for them to do. And so I want you to all first start with catching yourself if this question is coming from the place where you don't believe that your people will actually invest in signature packages. Now I'm not saying that this gals, you know, that that was her thinking, but because I can't go back and forth with her and have a real face to face conversation with her in an Instagram comment. But what I found when I actually talk to folks when they ask these questions, that the underlying belief is that the majority of their patients and clients won't be able to afford it. And so they're trying to really come up with a game plan, making the assumption that a lot of folks aren't going to be able to afford it. So just know if that is, you catch yourself first because I Ultimately want all of you to give the most results driven game plan possible. And then of course, if we're not, I don't give like slimy, persuasive gymnastics to my clients of like, how do we convince somebody to invest in something? I really like to build the sales and the marketing and your offer suite around this idea that we're a player place that is all in on creating the most epic, outstanding outcomes, solving the biggest problems as the highest value problems for our premium patients and clients, and then presenting those solutions that way. What I've found is, is when we double down on that, there's a lot more folks that end up being green lights. Like, yes, I'm all in, but it's still not 100%. But I still want you to go with the mindset that you're going to present a comprehensive thing instead, instead of thinking to yourself, well, there's a huge amount of people who can't afford this. Okay, so then what do you do when somebody isn't ready to purchase your signature package? So as you know, I like giving annual game plans. I like signature packages. And if you have a membership, a signature membership, I like giving the annual game plan. And it's usually some facsimile of like CSPs and BMOs and maybe a program. It just depends on what you have and what the human in front of you actually needs. Okay, so we give the annual game plan. And it's not even really for them to all pay for it up front, all the way, because some of the things you're giving, you're just planting the seeds. That is the game plan for the future. So we do that. And then of course they may say, oh, like, I wasn't expecting to pay that amount today. And so then from there, after we've given the annual game plan, you can help them Value engineer. And what I mean by that is it really is a case by case basis on what that human has told you. So like in the case of somebody where maybe you presented a contour package, like, you have to decide sometimes, like, is it worth it for them to only get one small piece of that package? Because in some cases it's not. Because they really do need the combination of things to get the result that they want, right? Like they're asking for one syringe when you know that one syringe is like going to be negligible and disappointing. So you have to make that decision on a case by case basis. Now maybe it's a package that is more like you know, facial rejuvenation in the sense of like a brightening package or, you know, some sort of resurfacing type of package that's going to help with tightening and uneven skin tone and all of that, you know. From there, then you need to decide what you might offer within that. What I don't want you to lose sight of is you still want to present an annual game plan and present your packages and programs within that annual game plan. And, and then yes, of course, you can backend engineer from there, but then you have at least given the human in front of you a realistic look at what an actual comprehensive blueprint will actually look like for them. So the second question is, how do I raise my prices without losing loyal clients and patients? So this is a great question. And for one thing, as a business owner, every single year you need to raise your prices. And you know, I've coached so many of you that have like sometimes gone years without raising your prices. Like, you're not even raising prices with inflation, which means every year that you don't at least raise your prices with inflation, you actually hurt your profits, right? You actually end up losing money by not raising your prices. And so my first question to this is, this is why I'm so bullish on you guys, really knowing who your premium patient or client is. Because you may have loyal, and I'm using air quotes here for those of you not watching the video. You may have loyal patients or clients that just aren't that ideal patient and client that you want to actually build your entire med spa clinic or practice around. So you want to start there. The second thing I would say is, like, whenever I think of my ideal clients and I think of your ideal patients and clients, they are the folks that are all in on wanting to see you succeed. And raising prices is a normal part of business. Every single business on the planet that is open for years raises their prices, okay? That's first things first. And then you just have to be honest and let them know, like, we're raising our prices, okay? And the other thing about this is that if you don't have drama in your brain around it and you're more certain with it, then everybody else that energetically everybody else will follow suit. And then of course, you might have some patients and clients who go elsewhere and that's okay, right? That's a part of the process. You may have some patients and clients that you attracted when you were running massive discounts and when you were underpriced and it's fine to Understand that those patients and clients may not come with you to the next level and to the next place that you're taking your business as well too. So I wouldn't overthink it. You absolutely can announce it and give folks the heads up ahead of time if that feels good to you by giving them like, hey, like, just so you know, in, you know, 60 days, you know, my ADS team was raising their annual, their annual, their monthly fee by $500 and they gave me, I think 60 days notice. So it was like they told me in August and by October 1st my. And that felt really fair, like they were just giving me a heads up and I was like, oh, thanks for giving me the heads up. And I'm like, I totally get it.
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Guest Expert
Right?
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Heather Turveen
Like costs, you know, rise, but beyond that, like, I know that they are a great company and that they take care of their employees and that ultimately they're trying to build a thriving business. And you know, if one of your clients or patients can't respect and understand that, then ultimately you have to be, you really have to be the advocate for your own businesses, you know, health and vitality.
- [13:03]
Guest Expert
Okay?
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Heather Turveen
And so we cannot make decisions worried about like maybe some of your patients or clients that are not going to like the fact that you're changing prices. Okay, so the next question is, how do I attract high end clients who don't question my pricing? You know, first of all, whether, when most of you are all US and Canada based, you know, some of you are based in Europe and all over the world, of course, but the majority of you are all in first world countries where no matter what market you're in, there are folks, no matter what market you're in, there are folks who are looking to invest in experts and authorities for what it is that you do, every single market. So you first have to shift your belief and knowing it doesn't even matter. And you know, I got into this industry in 2006, 6ish. And so I was in this industry when the last, you know, the Great recession happened in 2008 and those years following that. And there were like 30% of businesses that went under during that time. And so people are like whispering about, oh, like the economy's gotten tougher or oh, like my customers, it's getting tougher and all this stuff. And what I would argue is that, you know, what you focus on grows. And so I had a client, a new client to me, she'd recently joined msa and she was kind of sharing her story about how, you know, while the economy had gotten worse. And at the end, in fourth quarter, she's been in business for a couple of decades and she had started using Groupon in the fourth quarter of last year. And what happened was, is that what was interesting is that she started to believe that the economy wasn't as good. She started using Groupon. And then of course she started attracting like not high end patients and clients. Right. And so that decision that was spurred from the idea that the economy's not as good. So I have to change what I've been doing. And it affirmed the belief that the economy's not as good. Because then of course she ended up attracting more patients and clients that are more price sensitive. You know, they probably were price sensitive even when the economy was outstanding. Right. So what happens is we start to make decisions that affirm the belief that we have, and then our reticular activating system starts to actually filter out things so that we, because our reticular activating system wants to prove what we already think, what we already believe or think. So if you think the autonomy economy is bad, it's going to look like a, like a, one of those heat seeking missiles for the truth behind that. So it's going to go and look for evidence that the economy isn't good. And so the reason why I share all that and like how do I attract high end clients who question, who don't question my pricing. The heart behind this question is that is a little bit of doubt about the idea that there are high end clients. Okay, so that's number one. Then number two is you actually have to shift. And when you're creating your offers, your sales and your marketing, which is like the three key things that we work with our clients on, is that you have to keep shifting your focus back to that premium client or patient, like, who is she?
- [16:56]
Guest Expert
Okay.
- [16:57]
Heather Turveen
Because in every economy there are folks, there are premium patients and clients in every single economy.
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Guest Expert
Okay.
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Heather Turveen
And in fact, like in, when the economy gets tougher, you want to focus on folks that are not struggling, right? And not like all of a sudden decide, oh, the economy's bad, so I'm going to offer more discounts and change my pricing structure so that are more affordable for everybody who's struggling. Well, there's a lot of people who aren't struggling. And even beyond that, there's a lot of people who still value, no matter what their socioeconomic statuses, there's a lot of people who still really value the fact that what you're doing with aesthetics or wellness or whatever you specialize in that. They value investing in that in a premium way.
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Guest Expert
Okay.
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Heather Turveen
So you want to check yourself on how. Because it's so sneaky. It's so sneaky how you inadvertently end up creating offers, pricing structures, sales systems, like your consult system.
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Guest Expert
Right?
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Heather Turveen
Like, the question about, like, how do I raise my pla. My prices without losing loyal clients presumes the idea that your loyal patients and clients are really price sensitive.
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Guest Expert
Right?
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Heather Turveen
When I would always say, like, I don't believe, like my clients are price sensitive. It doesn't serve me to believe that my clients or price sensitive either. So you first have to, you know, notice where you've inadvertently created, you know, structures to your menu, to your offers, to your pricing, to your sales process that you have your team doing to your marketing. I mean, this shows up online for you all when you are doing social media and what have you. When you're thinking about, you know, just the idea of like your promotional planning when it's built on discounts, that is going to draw in, not a premium. Like, when I'm looking for my own aesthetic provider, I am not going to go to the cheapest place in town because it's my face and I value investing in expertise and authority. And so if somebody's like building their marketing around, you know, discounts and what have you, it's actually going to repel me because I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for somebody who can actually help me with my high value problem.
- [19:24]
Guest Expert
Okay.
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Heather Turveen
Okay. What's the biggest mistake med spa owners make when trying to scale? So I think overall, and I've talked about this before, a mistake in your approach to how you're leading your business. I think the biggest mistake that folks make is not questioning how you have currently created the results that you currently have. And so whatever results you have right now, okay, so however far you've grown or scaled your business is because of the decisions and the actions and the strategies and the tactics that you've implemented thus far.
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Guest Expert
Okay?
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Heather Turveen
For better or for worse. And so I think one of the big mistakes that folks make is that in an effort to avoid making mistakes. So this is funnier. In an effort to avoid making mistakes, you end up just making less decisions and you end up taking less action. So I think the, you know, the core thing behind one of the biggest mistakes is, is just this idea of like not taking enough action in general.
- [20:45]
Guest Expert
Okay.
- [20:46]
Heather Turveen
Like, not really, like diving in to really building your skill sets around marketing and selling in order to build your skill sets around marketing. And selling, you have to roll up your sleeves and really decide to double down on becoming proficient in that. And so I think the underlying biggest mistake is, is not actually taking enough action because you're worried about avoiding mistakes instead of knowing that the people that are the most successful actually have the most amount of stacked failures along the way. And I've shared this before, but when I look at the sort of psychographic of my most successful clients, clients, they have this ability to take massive action and which it's not, they're not avoiding more mistakes than the folks who are moving slower. In fact, they are, you know, hitting more mistakes, if you will, mistakes, failures, they're just moving so much faster than, than some of you who are overthinking, avoiding like losing any money or what have you. So I think that is like if I had to pick one sort of underlying thing that I think is the mistake that I see many Med spot owners make. Okay, so this is a question I get all the time, especially over the years, is it better to focus on membership programs or package sales? So, so my approach and thought process behind this, I think for many of you it makes sense to eventually have both. So in msa, if you were to work with us, I would not have you create a membership right away after joining us. Now many of our clients already have memberships and so we help them actually make sure that they have a signature membership, right? Like let's change the positioning of that membership so that it actually solves a problem and it fits within how we are going to present annual game plans to our best patient and client avatars. Okay, but if you came to me and you didn't have a message and you didn't have a membership and you didn't have packages, I would have you double down on packages first. And it's just because that idea, and I've shared this stat before or like you know, different example sort of financial models, if you will, or frameworks. But you know, in order to make a lot of money from membership sales, you have to have a high volume of membership each month. Okay, now I'm all in on you guys getting that recurring revenue from memberships, but I also know the numbers mathematically that if we convert more of you and your team members selling premium signature packages sales, you know, especially that three to ten thousand dollar range, it's gonna affect your bottom line immediately where membership sales are more of, you know, I've talked about that hunter farmer approach, if you will. The membership sales are more of like a farmer longer term Approach, it's gonna, you know, help, but it's not gonna give you like those big pops and swings to your bottom line that first, you know, the first few months, if you will. So I like to focus on creating the signature menu around signature packages, programs and skin care systems because I have just seen it dramatically improve. I'm all about the numbers. Like, I want you guys to make the most money possible as quick as possible. And so I've just seen that signature packages do that faster than memberships. And so I like to start there first. And then of course, adding in a membership I think is outstanding. My one thing on memberships, and since we talked about pricing too already, is that many of you need to raise your prices before you launch a membership. And I have worked with so many clients who have a membership, they were like really sold on, like somebody told them they have to have a membership, recurring revenue, all the benefits of recurring revenue and blah, blah, blah. But they ended up adding in a membership which had all these discounts, right? And they did not raise their prices before. So you want to think about price anchoring and make sure that before you add in a membership, especially if it's a, you know, a discount driven membership, which I don't like the positioning of that. I don't like just a membership that's just for loyalty and like you just get discounts. I like the positioning of a membership to make sense for me. Like it serves a function as I'm presenting an annual game plan to somebody, right? So if I'm sharing with, you know, the woman in front of me the annual game plan during a consult, the membership isn't just like, oh, you're going to save on your skin care or something. It's like, hey, no, you're going to get this GLOW membership or XYZ membership that's going to help you elongate the results from your packages or ensure that we are, you know, giving you that glowing skin throughout the year. Like it really actually has a point to it that helps produce the results that client is looking to achieve or the problems they're looking to solve that functions outside of just like we're going to give you the best discounts, you know, and loyalty. Okay, so I like my sort of approach to memberships is a little bit different and how I like to position them. But that being said, the math on the package sales, if you had to pick one to start with, I would start with doing more package sales just because the numbers will impact your bottom line faster. Okay, next question. I Love this question. Okay, so how do I handle a team member who isn't performing, but I don't want to fire them?
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Guest Expert
Okay.
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Heather Turveen
So I thought this was a great question. Okay, now first of all, this idea, like all team members, you have to think about it like you are the caretaker for your business and ultimately your business, which provides for you and your family and all of your team members families. And it produce, it provides like an incredible, incredible experience and service to the people that you serve. And so ultimately, as the CEO owner, your loyalty and your devotion, number one, needs to be to the sustainability and vitality of that business.
- [28:02]
Guest Expert
Okay?
- [28:03]
Heather Turveen
And so that means that every team member is, no matter how nice the team member is or how much you purchase personally may like them, every team member needs to be on board for whatever decisions you are making that is going to help the vitality and sustainability of your business.
- [28:24]
Guest Expert
Okay?
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Heather Turveen
And so I look at it this way, and I was using this analogy a couple months ago on a call with one of our msa. It was actually the practice just the, the spa manager and the owner and the spa manager were on and we were talking about certain, some of their team members who were giving them flack for some of the new initiatives that they were taking. And so what I told them is like, I really think of myself as the captain of the ship and the ship is a metaphor for the business, okay? And so like when I, when you have a new initiative, whatever it might be, that ship is going to leave port. And I've, I've let the folks know, which in this case the is. Are the team members, my team members. Hey, like this is where the ship is headed, okay? I want you to get on this ship with me. But you may not like, you know, this team member may not like the new direction that this ship is going. I'm okay with the fact that if you, if this direction that where this ship is going isn't a fit for you. Like, you don't desire to go where we're going, right? That's okay. You can stay at port and find another ship to get on. I am rooting for you. I want you to get on this ship, right? But this ship is leaving the port and so I'm hoping you're getting on the ship. This is how I, you know, think about it. But if not, that's okay. And like taking a team member who doesn't want to be on your ship and go with you and sail to the next incredible place that you're taking your business, it's okay. It's. It's better for them and better for you that if you find that out and that. And then you part ways amicably.
- [30:21]
Guest Expert
Right.
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Heather Turveen
So that's one thing I want you to think about. The second thing, though, is first we got to make sure that you actually have clarity on where the ship is going and that you've actually given them the tools and the clarity on what your expectations are for them. And many of you don't do that very well. You know, it's not natural for many of us to do that well. And so we want to get radical clarity on what our expectations. Expectations are and actually get it down on paper and meet regularly with our team members on what our expectations are. Is there a new initiative of some sort? If you're changing how you've done things, if you're changing your pricing, if you're changing how you want them to sell.
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Guest Expert
Right.
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Heather Turveen
Those things we want to get radical clarity on because a lot of you have a lot of expectations for your team members that you just have in your head that you haven't effectively communicated. So we first have to ask ourselves the question, is this a communication problem? Right. And then let's fix that communication problem. Make sure we're giving our team members radical clarity and a safe place to actually, you know, get feedback and to ensure that we're creating, like, that positive accountability system where they, like, feel support supported and all that as well. And then also, like, it gives clarity on whether or not they are going to be and stay on the ship.
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Guest Expert
Right.
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Heather Turveen
Because then you have clarity on where the ship's going. So as I was telling these folks, the manager and the owner, I was like, you know, like, the ship's leaving the. The port. I. I'm hoping. I want you to come with me.
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Guest Expert
Okay.
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Heather Turveen
But this is where we're going, and I hope you're coming.
- [32:12]
Guest Expert
Right.
- [32:12]
Heather Turveen
But ultimately giving them that clarity and then if they decide, then it's their decision that they've decided that they are not going to get on the ship. And then we can all agree, like, hey, like, that's okay, that this place isn't a fit for them anymore and you gotta let them go. Even if you personally like them a lot.
- [32:35]
Guest Expert
Okay.
- [32:36]
Heather Turveen
You have to put that aside and get really, really neutral to the fact that you, as the CEO and owner are directing the ship to new places and you, you know, the best team members are gonna totally be on board. Doesn't mean that they're not gonna need help support clarity and all those things along the way, you need to invest in them too.
- [33:02]
Guest Expert
Right?
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Heather Turveen
But, you know, knowing that I think has made all the difference for myself and, you know, a few, especially like four or five years ago, this was like a, you know, I did not do this quickly enough with team members that I had, you know, because I liked them personally. And now, you know, it's a lot easier because I do believe that ultimately the goal is for the business to thrive. If the business doesn't thrive and survive and isn't, you know, flourishing, everybody suffers, I suffer, the other team members suffer. Eventually my clients are going to suffer because I won't be able to actually continue to serve them at the highest level. So those were some of our hottest questions. I want to invite you if you I'm going to be doing these episodes every once in a while and if you have a question that you would like to have answered on the podcast, head over to Instagram @HeatherTurveen. Let me know that it's a podcast question and shoot me that question and I will aggregate them and then answer them on the next episode or the next Frequently Asked Question Questions episode that I host. All right, that is what I have for you this week, my friend. I will see you next week.
- [34:30]
Podcast Host
Hey, if you're enjoying this podcast and you're a boutique, results driven med spa owner who's looking to drive more sales profitably each month without hustling yourself into the ground to do so, then you should consider applying to join us inside of the MedSpa Advantage. It's the only program designed for to help you grow your revenue and profits while gaining back more time so that you don't feel scattered and drained while running and growing your business each month. To learn more about whether or not you're a fit for joining us, you can head over to heatherterveen.com apply to apply to get on a call with us to learn more. That's heatherturveen.com apply to learn more SA.