
Ready to grow a business that feels as good as it performs? In this special Q&A-style episode, I’m joined by Danny from The Good in Media (my production team), as he puts me on the spot with 20 questions about all things Med Spa growth,...
Loading summary
Heather Turveen
Hello, my beautiful friend. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. We have something a little bit different. I'm experimenting with my podcast team on new ways of creating marketing content. Just new ways of honestly serving you guys. And so we're doing a question and answer style episode this week where Danny from my production team actually interviews me with a bunch of random questions that he came up with. I did not know the questions ahead of time and then I just naturally answer them with whatever was on at the top of my head. I think it's a fun new way for us to sort of experiment with content for you guys. But I'd love to hear if you would like more episodes like this. So you can head on over to my Instagram eatherturveen and let me know. But otherwise, I hope you enjoy this conversation that I had with Dani from Good Media.
Danny
Welcome to the MedSpa CEO podcast where.
Heather Turveen
I teach you how to grow and.
Danny
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.
Unknown
All right, so I want to be able to ask you about a handful of things today, but to start off, I want to hear from you in your words, what is a signature menu and why should everyone have one?
Heather Turveen
Yeah, so a signature menu is a unique to the Med Spot or practice offer suite. Okay, so we hear offer suite in a lot of other industries, but how it applies to a service based business like a Med spa and aesthetic practice is taking your generic a la carte service menu and creating a unique branded to you offer suite. And I call that a signature menu.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And there's different parts to a signature menu. I have a specific framework for a signature menu, but the idea is that I want every single client that I work with to have a menu that is unique to them, that is unlike every other competitor in their market. And so. And that is designed to serve certain types of humans get outstanding outcomes.
Unknown
So you believe in selling solutions, not specific products. Like Botox is something that people know the word Botox, right? But what they're actually looking up is like help me get rid of wrinkles.
Right?
And you would then create a package saying like the anti wrinkle or like the anti aging package that would be more what that looks like. Right?
Heather Turveen
For sure. And the reason why, because back in the day when I first started doing consulting in this industry. I actually was doing social media strategy. I did send done for you Facebook and Instagram advertising and like online marketing consulting. And so we were not helping with the menu, we were not helping with the consults and the coaching of the team members. And so what we found is that it was incredibly hard to create marketing around generic offers.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
So we still got results and what have you. But I was always like, oh my goodness, I wish I could roll up my sleeves and go deep with people and actually kind of restructure how they're doing things. So the way my current business is even set up and how I work with people came from a need I had when I was actually just doing the marketing, the front end marketing for people. And I was like, gosh, but their foundation sucks. Like just talks, just migrating whatever the generic things were. I was like, if we can actually create signature offers, it actually makes the marketing easier. It makes it easier for your team to be able to sell more comprehensive things. So that is one of the key reasons why I'm so bullish on people taking the time to actually creatively come up with offers is because I know when we go to market to the original part of your question, like people are looking for solutions. And when I'm looking, when I'm being, you know, I'm on Instagram, I'm searching for something online or right. I'm looking for solutions to my problems. I'm looking for desired outcomes. I'm not looking for the technology, right. I'm looking for somebody who can help me get incredible results or like, you know, let's say I have acne or something like that. I'm looking for somebody who can help me solve my problem. So in marketing we know that that is what is going to draw in the best patients and clients. And so I backend engineer the offering with that in mind to attract those folks.
Unknown
When you're actually putting these together, why do you think it's important not only for you to be able to like be more profitable, but to help the clients not have like decision fatigue because they don't know what all this stuff is. Why is it important to have that like one solution that incorporates all of it without them having to think about it?
Heather Turveen
Yeah, so decision fatigue is the reason. So every day we start, I like to think of it as like, you start with a bucket of like decisions that you have in a day and as the day goes on, your ability to actually make decisions disintegrates. It's called decision Fatigue, and we lose the ability to make decisions. So every single patient or client you see has decision fatigue, some level of it happening in the background, meaning they have their deterioration of making decisions. So if we give them a bunch of questions that they have to make decisions on, which is what? Why customized treatment plans are not my favorite. Because that is like a laundry list of decisions, right? Like, okay, I'm going to recommend IPL and tox and microneedling and this individual product. And this individual product. And this individual product, as opposed to, here's this skin care system, one decision, right? Even though it might have seven or eight products in it. And then here's this brightening package. We'll just call it that. Or acne boot camp, right? As opposed to telling them all of the different steps inside of the acne boot camp, then we have eliminated a lot of the decisions that they have to make. And so a confused mind will not say yes. And if we're experiencing decision fatigue, which all of us are, I mean, can, you know, and many of us are working with, like, ambitious, busy women, but even for men, obviously, too, we are all experiencing decision fatigue. And so if we can limit the amount of decisions that our patients or clients have to make, we will get more yeses. We will get more people on comprehensive plans that are actually going to get them better results, too.
Unknown
I like it. And I want to ask you about one of your ads that you ran because it became, like, somewhat controversial because you started your ad with signature packages are dead.
Heather Turveen
No, customized treatment.
Unknown
Oh, customized treatment plans are dead.
Heather Turveen
Yeah.
Unknown
Right. What does that actually mean? Because obviously, like, we ran that as an ad, and I think it did its job for the sake of, like, it got people talking.
Heather Turveen
It did.
Unknown
But now that you have a little bit longer platform, what do you mean by that and what should people be doing instead?
Right.
Heather Turveen
Well, so it was customized treatment plans are dead. It is the ad that I have the most negative feedback on as far as, like, comments and people arguing with me. But it is also our most highly converting ad of the last, like, seven or eight months. And I understand why it got negative feedback, so let me at least answer that. So when I say having a signature menu and having, like, clinical protocols that we basically brand and productize your service menu, people think when I say customized treatment plans are dead, that I mean, I don't want you to give personal service to the human that's in front of you, which could not be further from the truth. What I'm saying is that I don't want Your team and you to always be random and in what your recommendations are, which is basically what customized treatment plans are like, you come to me, and every single person I see is a unique human. And so I'm on the fly going to decide what I'm going to recommend to you and write it out in a laundry list.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
So that's what I mean by customized treatment plans. And so customized treatment plans. One, we just spoke on. It, like, creates a bunch of decision fatigue because there's so many more decisions to be made. Two, it gives inconsistent experiences across team members because you don't even know what your team members are recommending because they're customizing it on the fly every single time. So I still like signature plans, signature packages, and within those, we can do some personalization for sure. And there's so many things we can do to actually, like, vary how we deliver each of whether it's the. A chemical peel or devices. There's so many personalized things we can do with the settings and what have you. But the reason why people got so triggered, I think is the word I want to use is because they think, I mean, I want you to be like a factory and not give personal care, which couldn't be further from the truth. I want you to be able to really deliver consistent, reliable outcomes, which is if we look at other, like, parts of medicine is what they try to do is to actually standardize the protocol so that you can get more consistent, reliable outcomes. So. But, you know, there were a lot of people who really, really, really had strong opinions on that statement.
Unknown
Yeah. When I. I think it's one of those too, where it's like, it doesn't mean not. You're not customizing things. It literally is just like, we know the general protocol and, like, the client doesn't need the details of, like, we might change how much is in a specific syringe or different things.
Right.
But, like, they just need to know this is the treatment plan. And then it's up to the esthetician or whoever it is to actually, like, know what to do with that.
Heather Turveen
Totally. And even in some of our packages, like, let's say we're putting together some sort of contour package on the back end. You might have a range that that package actually, let's say it's four to eight syringes or something. And then the provider's able to decide, okay, we're still selling you this package. But whenever it comes down to quoting or what have you, you quote based on what you think that human in front of you actually needs. But from a client patient perspective, they only have to decide on that one thing. And they know this one thing is going to get them the outcome that they want.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
Which is all they care about too.
Unknown
I want to jump to a little more of like the, the marketing and positioning side of things. Why do you think it's a bad idea when med spas market themselves as like the cheapest or the discount people?
Heather Turveen
Yeah. When you build your unique value proposition around being the most affordable place. Most of the, you know, small business owners we work with, it's an incredibly tall order to actually deliver on that and then actually be profitable on that. Because in order to be the cheapest place or the most affordable place, you have to be operationally very, very skilled.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
And most small business med spa aesthetic practice owners aren't.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And when you're competing on price, it's just incredibly hard to build a long term sustainable business. And also we want to decide who it is we want to work with.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And for most of the people I work with, they want to have patients and clients that are with them for the long haul. They don't want to feel like they have to have an endless like, flow of new people coming in the door in order to just break even.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
Which is what happens when you use your marketing to position yourselves as the most affordable option and then you call in. I always use this analogy, like you get to decide who you're attracting.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
If you run a lot of discounts, if you are positioning yourself as the affordable leader, you will draw in the folks that are looking for the affordable leader.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
I'm not going to actually find you because that's going to repel me. Because I'm not looking for the most affordable leader. I'm looking for the best experts that are going to give me the most amazing experience and who are going to give me incredible outcomes, whose unique value proposition is about how incredibly talented they are at what they do and how incredible the white glove experience is. So you're going to actually repel the folks that are going to spend more money with you and that who are going, you're going to be able to get better results for them and in turn attract more people who can spend more with you. So I understand the heart behind why many people say they want to be affordable is because they don't want to exclude anybody. But they end up excluding the best patients and clients by default because they end up positioning themselves to actually repel those people.
Unknown
So do you Recommend. Most med spas actually decide on, like, this is my, like, one ideal client. And make sure all their marketing and copy and everything speaks to that one person.
Heather Turveen
Yeah. So it can be one, it can be three to five. I don't recommend having more than three to five. And we call these patient 365s where we really, like, actually dive into, like, your top three, let's say for some it's just one. I was working with a client just last week, and she just has one. She's focused on the perimenopause menopausal midlife woman and that she wants to create her whole entire clinic around that. And so it can be really powerful to do that. Some folks, they have like, you know, two or three variations of that. And then I have worked with some bigger clinics that get to, like, where they have four or five avatars. The more avatars you add in to focus on, the more you dilute your effort across. So you just have to keep that in mind.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
So if you're really small, it's just you and maybe an assistant or there's just a couple of you. Like, one might be enough to focus on. Now, keep in mind, Danny, that you will still end up attracting more than that one person, but you just have so much more resonance and the marketing is so much more magnetic when you're so micro specific about who it is that you're talking to.
Unknown
And what does that look like? Like, if I were to hire you to come into my clinic and be like, all right, help me understand how I'm going to, like, reposition ourselves. We're going to like, dial in a new avatar. What does that actually look like working with you?
Heather Turveen
Yeah, well, it's finding out who it is that you actually enjoy working with to begin with. You know, whenever I ask a new client this, they always usually have somebody in mind or a, you know, a number of patients in mind. But sometimes, Danny, when they start working with us, they have spent a lot of time maybe discounting and using various, you know, tools to, or, you know, strategies, tactics, if you will, to bring people in where a large amount of their customer base are the affordable, tire kicking, less loyal. And we have to be incredibly strategic with. Okay, you may not have a lot of these humans yet, but who is it that you want to actually attract more of? Who is she? Who is he? A lot of times it's a she, but sometimes it's a he.
Unknown
I.
Heather Turveen
And then actually doubling down on who that person is, and that is literally like, that's step one, if you will. And then we have a process, we call it a patient365 that we take them to because that becomes the heart of how we create their menu, their consult process, and then ultimately the marketing that brings them in too.
Unknown
And how do you work with the. Sometimes it's the owner themselves, sometimes it's the people that work and actually do the selling within the clinic. But like, how do you work with them on mindset when you're like, hey, we're just gonna start charging much more than we ever have and like, get them to see that it's worth it so that it's not a hard sale internally too. How do you work with our teams?
Heather Turveen
Yeah. So the two things team members need is clarity and competence.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And so, but you have to have clarity first. And so oftentimes, and this is why I don't like customized treatment plans as well too, is like, if we're just telling team like, hey, let's do customized treatment plans and give them a lot of liberty to just on the fly do whatever they want, you're going to have a lot of inconsistency across team members, which leads to inconsistent experiences, but. But also inconsistent sales across team members as well. And so step number one is getting team members clarity, which is what the signature menu helps with. So we get clarity on what we actually want, recommended to whom and when, which is what the packages and the programs actually do.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
Because they're defined for certain humans. And then we also want to get them clarity on the consultation, like how we want them to actually walk somebody through a consultation conversation.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And then from there we coach team members as well too. Then we can start working on their confidence. But confidence starts with having clarity. Like, if you're confused or don't have a consistent way of doing things, the likelihood you're going to be confident is lower. So we have to start with clarity first. And then we can work on building up and shifting some of the belief patterns and the thought patterns that they have, which is often them projecting their own price sensitivity onto the person in front of them. And then we can start working on building up the confidence and the belief and thought pattern shifts.
Unknown
And like, that all makes sense to me. I really like getting to hear how you work with the teams. I want you to talk a little bit about Heather AI and what you're already seeing as you unlock that for the teams where they can role play with that, right?
Heather Turveen
Yes, they can.
Unknown
So what does that look like when you. Is that just for training the upfront people to just know like, here's how to handle objections or here's how to present, like how are you helping them with that sales process?
Heather Turveen
Yeah. So in the Ask Heather AI, we have three different bots and one of the bots is built on our consult frameworks.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
So in that bot we've designed it so that it can help the owner actually create the CARES consult process, the actual framework for their specific clinic. Like how they want the conversations to go, everything from the intake to the actual conversation that each of their team members will have. And then we have like workflows is what they're called that are built into the bot so that the team members can role play with the bot.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
And what I found is because we do coaching calls, right? And in the med spa advantage, if you were, that's our group coaching program. We coach the owners. Then we have a separate portal and separate calls for team members. And so I'm coaching team members, but I can't be with every team member in a room when they're facing an objection with a patient or client. But they can have the AI in their back pocket to open up and, and talk with the AI and say. And it's built inside chat gbt.
Unknown
Okay.
Heather Turveen
So they would go inside the chat GBT inside of the specific bot for five figure consults and they could say and, and talk with it and say, hey, I just had somebody tell me they need to think about it and I'd like to like get advice on how I could have navigated that differently. And she will, because it's got all the hundreds of hours of me coaching team members built into the bot. She will give you an answer that will be similar to what I would coach you on directly during a call, but immediately. So it's pretty cool.
Unknown
What's the feedback been on it so far as you've started to really roll it out to all your people?
Heather Turveen
It's been really incredible, really incredible because I was just on a team call yesterday and even the team call before that, I was showing them all how to use it and start using and asking questions and they're just, they're blown away because it's so nice to have immediate feedback on things, whether it's, you know, from the owners being able to create marketing content with it right away to being able to actually come up with ideas for console conversations or how to navigate sales objections and what have you. Having real time feedback is in a super, like it's my brain on steroids, you know, it's like, incredible.
Unknown
Can you explain to me, like, I've heard you in the past talk about, like, competition proofing yourself.
Heather Turveen
Yeah.
Unknown
When you think about how to, like, competition proof yourself, like, I think about unique offers, like elevated patient experiences, like referral flywheels. I've heard you talk about what's the most important part of that to you if you were to, like, really competition.
Heather Turveen
Proof your business, it 100% is having a unique offer suite. It's going to be the signature menu. And it's because when you literally have the same offer suite as everybody else around you, it's much harder to competition proof yourself. Yes, there are things we can do about experience and personal brand and all of that jazz as well, too. But the true competition proof is actually having offers that aren't like anybody else around you. And so if you can nail that, it makes everything else so much easier. That's kind of the, like, literal answer. There's also the, like, belief answer where I'm, like, deciding to become unlike everybody else takes courage. And I don't even think I talk about this enough because it's natural as humans to actually not want to competition proof ourselves, because, like, our competition, we think, is, like, actually got it figured out.
Unknown
Right?
Heather Turveen
Like, or. Or like, we naturally. This is why we don't want to be, like, stand out from the crowd oftentimes.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
I would say number one is obviously having offers that are actually different. Danny. But, like, the deeper, like, how to actually become competition proof, like, takes a lot of courage for the owner to, like, actually stand out and say, we are doing things differently, which is having a different offer suite requires you to do things differently and to position yourself differently than what you see everybody else doing. So the second part of that is, like, in order to create unique experiences, the unique offers and all that jazz, you. You have to kind of stop looking at what everybody else is doing. You know, I'm not talking about not getting proper clinical training or any of that. Everybody I work with has that on steroids, but I'm talking about not looking at what everybody else is doing too.
Unknown
So basically, like, become a category of one becomes the goal 1000%. If you were to say, like, hey, my goal right now is like, I want to make myself stand out. I want to be a category of one. I don't want to be compared to all the other med spas around. What are the two or three things you would focus on?
Heather Turveen
The two or three things I would focus on is actually creatively positioning yourself differently. So we've We've talked about this a lot, right? Like, there's different components of that. There's having the unique offer suite. It's being able to articulate how you help your specific human get the results or the problem solved. Right? That is all in that. But then the other key thing is actually working on building your courage, muscle to be willing to stand out and be different. And that is more mindset, belief work. Because, you know, it takes courage and confidence to decide, I am going to wave a different flag, then everybody else around me is waving, right? And so that the two things is part strategy and then part mindset. If you can have both of those things where you're like, I am actually going to creatively position myself differently, unique offers, what have you. And then I am going to really step up as a leader, as an authority, like drawing your line in the sand. I'm gonna be an authority, I'm gonna be a leader, I'm gonna be an expert. And that takes courage.
Unknown
And you mean showing that like through price as well, right? Like that the part you're talking about.
Heather Turveen
With courage or it takes a lot of courage to. Yes, with price.
Unknown
Right.
Heather Turveen
Putting together big, like, bigger solutions has a bigger price tag. And then being able to lead a team who are maybe gonna have some head things pop up for them right around, you know, charging more, putting together bigger solutions, deciding we want to work with the folks that are, you know, who want the bigger outcomes, who are looking for a place that's gonna deliver even more incredible wow results for them. That takes a lot of courage, takes a lot of leadership. It takes a lot of really deciding, making that decision to really step up to the next version of you. We talk about leveling up your identity and working on your self concept and all those things. This is what it means. It's not always easy, right, to do that. It's easy for me to tell you to do that and you to intellectually understand. Here are the strategies and tactics of actually positioning yourself differently. And that's all great and fine, but it also means you got to have the courage and the leadership to actually charge forward with that.
Unknown
All right, I have one last question for you. If you were to say, like med spas that are going to thrive the most in the remainder of 2025 and hit the ground running in 2026, it's going to be the ones who what.
Heather Turveen
So double down on what they want to become known for and go all in on that. If I were to simplify everything we've been talking about, it would be that I like it.
Unknown
Thank you.
Danny
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.
Heather Turveen
The ground to do so, then you.
Danny
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 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.
Unknown
SA.
Med Spa CEO Podcast Episode Summary
Episode: Your 2025 Business Growth Audit: 20 Questions To Show You What’s Working And What’s Not
Host: Heather Terveen
Release Date: August 13, 2025
In this enlightening episode of the Med Spa CEO Podcast, host Heather Terveen explores crucial strategies for med spa and aesthetic practice owners aiming to boost their profits while maintaining a balanced personal life. Employing a fresh question-and-answer format, Heather engages in a dynamic conversation with Danny from her production team, delving deep into effective business practices tailored for boutique med spas.
Timestamp: [01:35]
Heather introduces the concept of a Signature Menu, emphasizing its role in transforming a generic service offering into a unique, branded suite tailored to a med spa's specific clientele.
"A signature menu is unique to the Med Spa or practice offer suite... it's designed to serve certain types of humans and deliver outstanding outcomes."
— Heather Terveen [01:35]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [02:35]
Heather underscores the importance of marketing solutions rather than individual products. She explains how packaging treatments into comprehensive solutions can simplify client decision-making and improve marketing effectiveness.
"When people are looking for solutions, I'm engineering the offering to attract those folks."
— Heather Terveen [04:26]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [05:45]
Addressing decision fatigue, Heather explains how limiting the number of choices presented to clients increases the likelihood of them committing to a treatment plan.
"If we can limit the amount of decisions that our patients or clients have to make, we will get more yeses."
— Heather Terveen [05:45]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [07:47]
Heather addresses the mixed reactions to her provocative ad statement, clarifying that while personalized care remains essential, excessive customization can lead to inconsistencies and client indecision.
"I'm not saying we should lose the personal touch, but rather avoid on-the-fly, laundry list recommendations."
— Heather Terveen [09:13]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [11:44]
Heather advises against positioning med spas as the most affordable option, highlighting the challenges in maintaining profitability and attracting the right clientele.
"When you build your unique value proposition around being the most affordable place, it can repel the best patients and clients by default."
— Heather Terveen [13:04]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [14:23]
Heather emphasizes the importance of defining and targeting specific client avatars to create more effective and resonant marketing strategies.
"Keep your marketing micro-specific about who it is that you're talking to, and your marketing becomes so much more magnetic."
— Heather Terveen [15:54]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [19:40]
Introducing Heather AI, Heather discusses how integrating AI tools can revolutionize team training by providing immediate, personalized coaching.
"Having real-time feedback is like having my brain on steroids. It's incredible."
— Heather Terveen [21:39]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [22:31]
Heather asserts that the foundation of a competition-proof med spa lies in its unique offer suite, which differentiates it from competitors and fosters client loyalty.
"Proofing your business is 100% having a unique offer suite. It makes everything else so much easier."
— Heather Terveen [22:52]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [25:18]
Heather highlights the necessity of courage and leadership in establishing a unique market presence, encouraging owners to confidently pursue innovative and differentiated services.
"It takes courage and leadership to decide I am going to wave a different flag than everybody else."
— Heather Terveen [25:18]
Key Points:
Timestamp: [28:12]
Concluding the episode, Heather advises med spas to double down on their unique strengths and clearly define what they want to be known for to thrive in the competitive landscape.
"Double down on what you want to become known for and go all in on that."
— Heather Terveen [28:29]
Key Points:
Throughout this episode, Heather Terveen provides invaluable insights into building a sustainable and profitable med spa business. From crafting a distinctive signature menu and avoiding the pitfalls of discount positioning to leveraging AI for team training and fostering a courageous leadership mindset, the strategies discussed are essential for med spa owners aiming to excel in 2025 and beyond.
For med spa owners eager to implement these strategies and elevate their practices, Heather recommends exploring the MedSpa Advantage program. To learn more, visit heatherturveen.com/apply.
This summary encapsulates the key discussions and strategies presented in the episode, offering actionable insights for med spa and aesthetic practice owners seeking growth and excellence.