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Want to Attract Premium Clients? Make the Shift from Suggestive to Assumptive Marketing
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If your marketing, consults, or offers feel watered down, chances are you're stuck in suggestive mode when what you really need is assumptive authority. In this episode, I talk about why assumptive marketing, used by premium brands like Apple and...
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When assumptive marketing and selling are missing, everything becomes more passive, apologetic and diluted. Your messaging becomes more diluted. The authority for which your team says things becomes lower authority. There's lower. Like your transference of like we are the experts is lowered. The offer gets diluted. Right? Because it's just not said with the same sort of psychology behind it. And then look at it like your offers end up being smaller, right? Like let's just start here, let's just use this small thing and then maybe eventually down the road we'll tell them something bigger along the way. People wanna follow people that they trust already have it figured out. When you are more assumptive in how you present what you know online, you will magnetically attract more patients and clients that trust you. Welcome to the MedSpa CEO podcast where I teach you how to grow and scale your med, spa or aesthetic practice so that you can have the income and impact you know you were meant for without overwhelm, stress or feeling like you have to sacrifice your personal 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. Hey beautiful friend. If you're a longtime listener of the podcast who's been dying to work with me but hasn't pulled the trigger yet, I have an incredible opportunity to work with me for a fraction of the cost. If your estheticians can't explain your signature plans or your new injectors panic every time they have to sell a high ticket consult, it's not their fault. It's the system. Or more specifically, your lack of one. That's exactly why I built Ask Heather AI, the first strategist level tool for esthetic and wellness CEOs who want to scale with precision and stop flying by the seat of their pants. Inside, you get three powerful tools, each designed to solve the exact gaps that keep your growth tied to you. Turn your basic menu into a branded high ticket signature offer suite your whole team can sell. Train every team member to lead premium consults with confidence, even if they've never sold a thing. Write magnetic messaging that attracts premium patients without sounding like every other clinic online. These are the same frameworks we've used to scale clinics to seven figures and beyond. And they used to cost five figures to access. Now you can have them in your back pocket. Try ask Heather AI for 30 days and see what happens when you stop guessing and start scaling with words that work. Head over to heathertravine.com trial to learn more. Hi my beautiful Friend. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today we're talking about the difference between assumptive marketing and suggestive marketing and how this is showing up for you, your team, from everything from your offers to your consults to your marketing and really how to shift from suggestive to assumptive. And why as a premium brand, if you're trying to create a premium brand with your med spa, your aesthetic practice, your wellness clinic, you will want to really take everything through an assumptive marketing lens. Okay, so first of all, what do I even mean by assumptive marketing? So assumptive marketing, premium and luxury brands use a lot of assumptive marketing. More mass market brands use what they call suggestive marketing. Okay. And they can both work what I found everything. If you're new around here, then you will not know this, but if you've been around here for a while and everything we do from like how we create our offers, our menus, and the idea even around me, having you take your clinical protocols to create signature packages, signature programs, well thought out plans and name them, is naturally more assumptive marketing than suggestive customized treatment plans. And just to be clear, what I mean by customized treatment plans is the idea that every single time you or your team see somebody, you're going to on the fly decide what the treatment recommendation is going to be. That is more of a suggestive marketing. And if you want, want to be, if you and your team want to be experts and thought leaders and really be the captain of the conversation with your patients or clients, you actually want to be rooted in assumptive marketing rather than suggestive marketing. And it permeates everything that you do. And as I take you through these different things to think about, when we're looking at your officers packages and your pricing and your consults and your marketing and how to shift to more assumptive marketing, I want you to sort of audit right now how you are more rooted perhaps in a suggestive marketing lens. So first let's look at offers, packages and pricing. When assumptive thinking is actually absent from that, when you are developing your menus, your offers, your promotions, how you're going to price things, all of those things. When you have more suggestive or less assumptive marketing, instead of assuming that your premium patient or client wants the result and is ready for the next level, you or your team will often default to a safe service design that lacks leadership. So without assumptive marketing, a provider might list microneedling, talks, peels separately, but doesn't actually really with confidence, say, like this is the plan, this is the package that I recommend for you. And the thinking behind it is, is rooted in this idea that not everyone will want all of that. Or I really need to wait to find out what the patient or client is going to want. And I want to explain to you why this is maybe hindering you and your team from really leading the conversation in the way that's gonna help the patient or client understand and to make a decision in their best interest. So to be clear, what I'm not saying is, is that you're gonna ignore what the patient or client wants. Rather you wanna make sure that in your consult process, even in your intake and that initial part of the conversation where you should be doing a lot of active listening and asking questions and really unpacking what the patient or client wants. Then after you've gotten that, you actually want to give them a plan, assuming that they will want the most comprehensive thing for the problems that they have and the desires that they want to have. So some of the ways this might be showing up is for example, you might be a wellness clinic that offers a 30 day, let's say hormonal reset of some sort. Instead of confidently recommending after talking with the patient that you have a six month or even a 12 month plan that you know is going to get them better results, it's going to give you more time to actually iterate and make sure that you're giving them the top level outcomes and just patient care that you want to give them. And so the assumption is that you're making is that that's going to be too expensive and that I'm going to suggest something smaller and then eventually maybe roll them up into a longer term plan. Now brands and businesses that assume that the patient or client has come in that they actually want the most comprehensive thing are not going to default to a shorter term plan. And also another way this shows up and let me tell you and ask yourself if this is happening for you. But a practice or med spa that price based on time and effort, so it's 250 for this particular treatment because of the amount of time it takes me and what have you, instead of assuming that premium patients and clients are willing to pay for the result and your expertise and the fact that you've created this beautiful environment for them to come and get treatments and services from is how you are not really rooted and using assumptive thinking when you're creating your offers. Now what's really happening is that you're selling down because you assume people will resist bigger investments instead of assuming that people will want really high impact, valuable game plans for them, right? So, so let's move into marketing and messaging and when assumptive authority is actually missing. So instead of assuming your ideal patient or client already wants the outcome and is just waiting to meet the right expert and the right guide, you know, that is you or your provider or team member, they market like they're trying to convince or educate. So without assumptive marketing, your website might kind of lead with, you know, if you're struggling with weight gain, acne or signs of aging instead of you're done piecing together the solutions around this and this is the correct method or game plan for this, right? It's a nuanced difference, but it's showing up in more of a leadership. Leaders are assumptive, right? Leaders don't suggest. Leaders say like we have a lot of experience in this category and we know that this actually works works, right? Your email might say something like this could be a right fit for you if instead of assuming that you already have patients and clients that are on your email list that are in your audience that are wanting to know what the next step is, right? So these are like nuanced differences in your messaging and when you shift to assumptive messaging and when you think of any of the big brands, right, Like Apple, Chanel, they are rooted in assumptive messaging and marketing. And even when you think about how Apple assumes that everybody's going to want the next version of the iPhone, right? They're not suggesting it, they're assuming it, which is why they update it every year or however often that they do. They also assume that they know what's best for their consumer base, that they know what design elements should be included and what design elements shouldn't be included. And sure, there are plenty, I'm sure of Apple's customers that wishes that or like might request like oh, we want this feature or that feature or this. But Apple is not, it's not even just as much of what they assume about what they should include, but it's so much about what they have strategically not included, right? They assume that their customer base has a lot of faith in what they decide ahead of time, right? Where you look at a lot of their competitors and they have way more features than their phones have and yet Apple crushes them with just customer loyalty and really having evangelists and loyalists to their products and it's because they are rooted in assumptive thinking. When they're deciding on how they put together their products and how they market those products, how they're salespeople, like if you've ever been in the Apple Store, they're help guiding you, but they are assuming that you come in that you're looking to buy something and it's just, it touches every single part of their customer journey. So let's look at your consult process and team training. Easy for me to say when assumptive sales is absent. So this is where it really hurts your business. When I look at the best providers and the team members who have more of their patients and clients saying yes to their more comprehensive plans and packages and what have you. A lot of times, you know, we will look for oh, what are they saying or how are they doing it? Is it because like they have a really pretty designed brochure and 99 times out of 100 has nothing to do with the physical asset that you could give, the marketing material that you could give your team and the provider. It has to do with the fact that certain team members are just better and are more assumptive in their authority when they're actually talking a patient or client through the conversation. So an aesthetic staff member who says something like what are you hoping to do today? Right? Instead of let's walk you through your competent aging blueprint and actually having a roadmap that is very assumptive in its like process, if you will. This is why I'm so bullish on you all. Having really clearly designed intentional roadmaps for your consult conversations so that you if it's you join the consult your team members are all equipped with with how to confidently actually walk a patient or client through a conversation. So it sounds on the surface so nice to be like what are you hoping to do today? But it's actually the patient or the client actually probably doesn't even know how to answer that question effectively. And so when you are rooted in having a really strong game plan, naming your consults and having a roadmap where you're letting them know, hey, like the, this is how it's going to go. I assume everybody wants an annual game plan and I'm going to give them an annual game plan and you will more consistently give annual game plans. I'm just using this as an example. When you assume that everybody wants one. Now if you wait to ask like are you just here, like are you just wanting to try us out today? Do you want us to give you a 6 or 12 month game plan that is suggestive it's rooted in suggestive thinking. And so what ends up happening is that the client or patient is going to reflect back to you that and it's going to reflect back that uncertainty that was the question actually infers. So once you assume that your patients are clients, and I mean assume even if they've come off of a cold traffic Facebook ad for a special offer, you can still make the assumption that everybody who comes through our doors wants this type of a roadmap. That is how you can start to dismantle where assumptive thinking is not at the heart of everything that you do in your process. So another example might be is like we have a few options depending on what you're comfortable with or we have a few options depending on your budget, right? And so even for me who's like all in, like, I'm like, oh, so I should be coming up with my budget and then we're going to create a game plan based on my budget. Now what I'm not suggesting is that you like force people or push people into any program if you will. It couldn't be further from what I actually believe when it comes to patient centric and heart centered selling. But what I do want to know is what do they actually want? How old is the person who's in front of me, Right? And then like let's actually put together a game plan that is in alignment with those desires and then assume that they actually want the best possible outcomes imaginable. And then yes, if they're like, oh well that's more than I could spend today, then we can actually work through that. But what many of you are doing is you are letting your patients or clients take the lead. And when you let them take the lead and it naturally lowers their confidence and whatever your recommendation is, and it literally makes them feel like they should be the discerning one, instead of putting the trust in the fact that you all actually are the ones who know what the best roadmap is for what it is that they are actually wanting. Right? So the other thing that happens with team members is they avoid discuss talking about price confidently. They will say things even before they've given the patient or client a chance to respond. Like, but we also have smaller packages too. If this feels like it's too much right now, that's just them projecting their own price sensitivity which happens instead of just saying, you know what, I'm neutral, I'm neutral. Whether you're a yes or a no, I'm actually neutral. I am an Advocate for you getting the best results based on what we just had a conversation are your goals. Goals and your problems that you want to have solved and your desired outcomes. And so I'm going to be an advocate for what I think is the best game plan for the next year. And no matter what your response is, I am neutral and I create safety no matter what. When we can actually root ourselves in assumptive thinking about the people that we are with, we create so much more safety to have real conversations. And we project so much confidence and certainty with the person. I mean, think about anytime you have gone, like, I have certain gals, certain women, I should say, I say that cause I'm getting older. But at Nordstrom that I love going to, that will help me actually choose way more clothes. Because they actually understand I'll tell them what I'm looking for, but they make assumptions and they will actually bring me back more things to try, right? Like maybe I'm like, I am just here for a new pair of jeans, which just seems to be the thing that I'm always looking for. And so. But they'll make an assumption like, well, if she has jeans, she might want accessories, she might want new tops, she might want a new belt, right? And those are my favorite people to be like, oh yes, bring them back. I'm not gonna worry about offending her if I don't say yes to everything. But she assumes that I want more. And so instead of assuming that the person on the other hand is just gonna let you know, I don't even know that there's maybe these cute tops that would go with the jeans that we're picking out, right? And so she makes an assumption based on that as well too. So another thing to just think about is that when assumptive marketing and selling are missing, everything becomes more passive, apologetic, and diluted. Your messaging becomes more diluted. The authority for which your team says things becomes less of. You know, there's lower authority, there's lower. Like your transference of like we are the experts is lowered, right? Like the offer gets diluted, right? Because it's just not said with the same sort of psychology behind it, right? So, and then look at it like your offers end up, by their very nature, end up being smaller, right? Like, let's just start here. Let's just use this small thing and then maybe eventually down the road we'll tell them something bigger along the way. Your marketing lacks magnetism. People want to follow people that they trust, already have it figured out when you are more Assumptive in how you present what you know online, you will magnetically attract more patients and clients that trust you. Because we're not looking for people who are, have a lot of question marks or who are maybe trying to like that are trying to give advice for a lot of different things. So what I see all the time is when you are putting together maybe your social media content. An example on social media would be this. When you're teaching the basics of how tox works. Okay, let's just use this as an example. Now I'm not talking about if you're talking about a more advanced thing that you've noticed that a lot of your patients actually come to you with that they don't have an understanding of. I'm just talking about teaching the basics of how tox works. Like that is not rooted in thinking about like you're not assuming that there are people in your audience who are already like know how talks works. Like your premium patients and clients likely are already getting talks, right? They're already getting talks. They're just looking for the authority and who is really excellent at doing it. So when you have a piece of content that's teaching somebody the basics, it's not assuming that you already have people in your audience that are already beyond the basics and are looking for more advanced solutions, right? So see how this can subtly permeate like everything that you do from your offers, your consults into your marketing. You think about Chanel or any premium brand, right? They're unapologetic about who they cater to, they're unapologetic about their pricing, they're unapologetic about how their brand stands out. They're not trying to cater to everybody. They assume a certain type of psychographic about their customer base. So wrapping this up and driving this home for you all, leaving it today. So again, the contrast really is, is that mass market brands, which you never want to be a mass market brand unless you plan on just competing on price and or competing on the amount of options that you have. This is only for companies that are scaling to be really big mainstream companies because you have a lot of venture capital and you have a lot of budget to be able to do it. They will have a lot of suggestive marketing because for one, they have an endless supply of options, which many of you don't. They also can compete on price. Premium brands use assumptive marketing. So this is the next step for you. We've curated this specifically for somebody just like you. This is what comes next when you are ready to elevate like all the language and your messaging and how you create your offer. There's just so many benefits to actually really like thinking through your entire customer journey through an assumptive marketing lens. Because you're not just offering treatments, you're prescribing outcomes. Okay, so without assumptive marketing you tend to over explain or offer a lot of options during your consults. Like you could do this or you could do this or you could do this. Your offers, your treatments often will be very generic or very very flexible. Your pricing will be based on product time or device, not the actual transformation that your ideal patient or client is looking to achieve. So with assumptive marketing, surprise, everything we do with our clients has the assumptive thinking and marketing rooted in it. Whether that's creating a signature menu of packages and programs, like really actually putting together your clinical protocols in a way that is conveying the transformation and the outcomes and how it can solve problems for certain types of humans and then really taking a leadership role in the consultation conversations with that rootedness and assumptions about your most premium clients and patients. And then also like how is this showing up on your social media, in your emails? How can you go from convincing energy to leading energy? Because you're not. Like an example is when we're convincing, we're presenting a lot of possibilities. We're assuming like you know, when you have more assumptions, when you are based in, when you were rooted in assumptive marketing and you have a patient or client who comes in and is like price shopping you as an example, you will be able to filter out oh, that person, that patient isn't our ideal patient. Like the person who's going to go from the Groupon to the other discount. And instead when you're not in really rooted and redirected yourself into who it is that you want to work for, you can spend a lot of time ping ponging around every time you get feedback from somebody that isn't what you perceive it should be. And this happens a lot when I'm coaching team members, when I'm coaching CEOs where they're like, well hey, like what do I do when you know, the person says this or the person says this. Well first I'll ask the question, is this person our ideal person? Right? And it doesn't mean I don't like we clearly have like I have a whole objection fight like checklist if you will on how to actually navigate those conversations. But you have to keep redirecting your brain to the Folks that you want to build your entire ecosystem around and then make assumptions about those folks once you think about them, right? Those specific humans. So when you really create your ecosystem rooted around the humans that you really wanna serve. Okay, so why does this work so well is because of there's so much psychology that backs this up. So first there's self perception theory. Okay? So this is the idea that people behave in alignment with the identity they believe they already hold. Okay. And so the more, and I know it's like beating a dead horse when you think about how many times you've heard from like whether it's a consultant, a marketing guru, your social media, your Instagram person, like who is your ideal client avatar, right? And this is why so many marketers, so many consultants tell you that you need to double click down on this is because when you understand the identity of the person you are trying to attract, you can actually speak to them in a way that is going to be in alignment not only speaking to them, it's what you say, it's also what you don't say. And if you speak to them as if they already are the kind of person who invests, commits and follows through, they will actually rise to make meet that. Okay. And then there's also something called cognitive ease when your messaging assumes readiness instead of over explaining, the brain perceives the offer as more trustworthy and actionable. And this is, you know, a lot of people like to argue with me on the Internet about how, you know, I talk about how when you over educate and you over teach, it actually lowers sales. But the reason why it lowers sales and you know, and I get where people are coming from when they argue with me about this is because they're looking at like a 10 second clip and they're assuming that this is all about like slimy sales psychology, but it's actually that it lowers their understanding of what it is. And so as humans, we are subconsciously looking for nonverbal cues when we're in a face of to face conversation. So you could tell me something, but if there is a question mark, if you are retracting a lot in your conversation, if you have a lot of questions when you're delivering it, like this could be a good fit, I don't know, it depends on what your budget is type of a vibe, it won't matter how much. The thing is that you've just told me, you have already lost me because I will not have cognitive ease because I'm looking at you like you're retracting you have questions and so that actually gets projected. Those questions actually now become my questions now, even if it's just done non verbally. There's also something called decision making psychology. The more confident we talk about this a lot, but the more confident and certain you are in the recognition recommendation, the easier it is for a buyer to say yes without hesitation. And so there's a certain amount of assumptions you have to make in order to really dive in and make bold, powerful recommendations for your patients. And so I hope today, like as you go out and you're thinking about your offers, you're thinking about your promotions, you're thinking about how you can help yourself or your team members be able to actually get more patients onto comprehensive game plans. I want you to think about how assumptive thinking and marketing is absent from your business and where you can use what we've talked about in this episode to actually more powerfully show up. Because what will end up happening is the more powerful you show up in these areas, the more folks, those premium patients and clients who are looking for leaders, who are looking for thought leaders for what it is that you do will magnetically be drawn in to what it is that you are doing. All right, my friend, that is what I have for you this week. I can't wait to see you next week. Take care. Hey, if you're enjoying this podcast and you're a boat results driven Med Spot 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 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 heatherturveen.com apply to apply to get on a call with us to learn more. That's heatherturveen.com apply to learn more.