Med Spa CEO – Turn Strangers into Pre-Sold Patients (The Before-During-After Marketing Playbook)

Host: Heather Terveen
Date: November 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Heather Terveen, strategist to successful med spas and aesthetic practices, dives into a core challenge for clinics: How can you transform strangers into patients who are “pre-sold” on your solutions, ready to book and pay for premium services? Heather unpacks her Before-During-After (Marketing Ecosystem) Playbook, highlighting the pivotal role of “trust building assets” at every step of the client journey. She argues that in today's “trust recession,” trust—not mere visibility or virality—is the true conversion currency. Listeners get actionable ideas for designing a customer journey that consistently stacks trust and positions their clinic as a category-of-one authority.

Main Themes & Key Insights

1. The True Purpose of Marketing: Trust Over Visibility

• Visibility without trust is ineffective. You can be popular, but unless you build trust, you won’t book the “premium patients” you want.
  • Notable Quote (00:00):

    “Visibility without trust doesn’t book premium patients who are pre-sold on your solutions. Trust is the conversion currency that you want to be working towards.” – Heather Terveen

• Virality isn’t always a blessing. Going viral can attract the wrong audience (e.g., outside your local area or not an ideal fit), so focus on the right visibility with the right people.
• We’re in a 'trust recession.' Consumer skepticism is high, and trust-building needs to be intentional and strategic.

2. The Marketing Ecosystem: Before, During, and After

• Heather’s framework splits the patient journey into three stages, each demanding its own trust-building assets:
  • Before: Front-end marketing to people who don't know you.
  • During: The in-person experience once someone books.
  • After: Follow-up communications and ongoing engagement.
  • Quote (01:26):

    “I call it a marketing ecosystem—before, during, after. It’s the simplest way you can look at your marketing and not lose sight of the humans you’re trying to help.” – Heather Terveen

3. Trust-Building Assets: What They Are and How to Use Them

• Definition: Anything in your marketing, messaging, or client experience that reduces skepticism and demonstrates authority, expertise, or results.
• Trust isn’t built with “fluff” or impersonal content, but with proof, frameworks, demonstrated results, belief shifts, and authentic stories.
• Examples of Trust Assets:

  • Before & after case studies (tell the full story, not just a photo).

  • Named proprietary methods/frameworks (e.g., “XYZ Clear Skin Method”).

  • Explaining your thought process (authority POV posts).

  • Consistent content that points back to your signature offers.

  • Email guides, nurture sequences, and branded consult pathways.

  • Quote (17:40):

    “How can we turn your before and afters into trust-building case studies? How can we incorporate the story – really articulate the transformation of how this person came from point A to B?” – Heather Terveen

4. Building Trust at Each Stage

A. Before – Front End Marketing (08:55)

• Channels: Organic social, paid ads, SEO/Google Ads, collaborations, events, PR, referrals, word of mouth.
• Strategies:
  • Move past “educational fluff” – people pay for trusted authorities, not generic educators.
  • Show PROOF (case studies, before & afters), unique frameworks, authority POV, and consistently thread these back to offers.
  • Use story- and results-driven content, not just “day in the life.”

B. During – In-Person Experience (25:31)

• Every consultation is a trust-building opportunity.
• Structure your consults with a clear, named process (e.g., the CARES process: Clarify, Affirm, Recommend, Explain, Show).
  • Intake forms, front desk experiences, and waiting area materials can reinforce trust.
• Quote (28:12):

  “Everything we do in our CARE system, in our Five-Figure Consult System, is designed to trust-stack during that in-person conversation.” – Heather Terveen

C. After – Follow Up (30:41)

• Post-visit engagement: Email sequences, exclusive events, education, outcome celebrations.
• Purpose: Reinforce the relationship, deliver ongoing value, and encourage referrals/retention.
  • Example: Host an in-person “Clear Skin Event” for existing and new patients.
• Quote (32:10):

  “How can we continue to reengage our patients in a way that continues to build trust? ... Can we have high impact events that are just for our existing patients?” – Heather Terveen

5. Trust Stacking in Practice: The Acne (Clear Skin) Patient Funnel (21:40)

• Heather walks through a full trust-building funnel for an “acne” service:
  1. Content: Create a video sharing a patient’s transformation using your named method (e.g., “Clear Skin Method”)—story + proof + unique framework.
  2. Lead Magnet: Invite viewers to DM for a “Clear Skin Guide.” Collect emails in exchange for the guide, which includes more proof and method details.
  3. Nurture: Email sequence follows, each message building more trust and guiding recipients to book a “Clear Skin Roadmap Consult.”
  4. Consult: The consult itself is branded and structured for trust stacking.
  5. Post-Consult: Ongoing trust-building in follow up and community events.

Noteworthy Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On trust as the conversion currency:

  “Trust is the conversion currency that you want to be working towards.” (01:17)

• On the dangers of virality:

  “Virality is a double-edged sword ... sometimes it actually grows the wrong audience following you.” (06:38)

• On the ‘marketing ecosystem’:

  “You all have an ecosystem. It’s just whether or not you’re being very intentional with it.” (11:26)

• On proprietary frameworks:

  “Naming your frameworks ... conveying you have a unique way of doing things, so much so you named it ... This builds trust in the customer’s mind.” (19:14)

• On story-driven marketing:

  “Stories just help resonate and drive home ... our messages so much more clearly ... We are just story-driven creatures.” (22:10)

• On strategic nurture:

  “Once they opt in for the guide, they get dropped into an email sequence ... The call to action is to book their Clear Skin Roadmap consult. That’s trust-building right there.” (24:38)

• On continuous trust stacking:

  “If you double down on really building trust-building assets, making your entire ecosystem a trust-building machine for the humans you serve, there’s no way you can’t win...” (34:41)

Action Steps & Final Thoughts

• Audit your own marketing ecosystem for trust gaps at each stage: before (front end), during (in-person), after (follow up).
• Strategically stack trust assets into every phase: content, consults, offers, post-care.
• Use stories, frameworks, case studies, and branded experiences to pre-sell your authority and create long-term loyalty.

Key Timestamps

• 00:00-01:17 — The primacy of trust over mere visibility
• 06:00-08:55 — Why virality isn’t always the goal
• 11:00-13:30 — The 'marketing ecosystem' concept explained
• 17:00-26:00 — Concrete examples of trust-building assets
• 21:40-27:00 — Walk-through of a full trust-stacking funnel (acne/clear skin)
• 28:00-30:00 — Trust-building in consults and in-person experiences
• 30:40-33:00 — Follow up & long-term engagement as trust assets
• 34:15-end — The imperative to create a trust-building machine in your business

This episode is a playbook for med spa owners and marketers who want to win in a competitive, skeptical marketplace by making trust their core strategic advantage—at every stage of the patient journey.