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Med Spa Success Strategies
How Med Spas Can Increase Profit Using Vendor Relationships, Retail & Memberships w/ Jaclyn Luongo
00:46:52
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- [00:03]
A
Hey, everyone. I'm your host Ricky Shockley with MedSpa Magic Marketing. And this is the MedSpa Success Strategies podcast where MedSpa and Aesthetics practice owners come to discover strategies and tactics that help them better market and manage their practices so they can grow, improve profitability and have greater impact. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Jacqueline Luongo. Jacqueline is the Vice President of Business Development and brand partnerships for PDO Max, bringing over 25 years of experience to the aesthetics industry. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Melanoma Education foundation and holds advisory roles with NASN Pro and the Kathryn Hines Institute of Aesthetics. The author of Successful Selling in the Beauty Industry and a contributor to Pulse Magazine, Jaclyn also volunteers with the Global Wellness Institute and ispa. She focuses on empowering aesthetic and med spa businesses to increase revenue through strategic retail, sales and business development initiatives. So today we're talking all things vendor relationships, how you as a med spa owner can take advantage of your vendor relationships and some of the things you might be missing to help you level up the growth and success of your med spa. So I guess, Jacqueline, we had a whole series, you and I, probably our first conversation could have been recorded as an episode.
- [01:11]
B
Right? Right.
- [01:12]
A
That happens sometimes. I should have just done that in the first place. Let's just start, hey, reframing vendor relationships. The overview. What are people missing when their vendor relationships.
- [01:21]
B
Well, I, with 25 years of experience, I have always said there is always missed opportunity from the managers, the directors out there to know what to ask from your vendors, from your reps, because there is so much that from the vendor side that we do have as assets. And I feel like it isn't always accessed and taken advantage of because whether it is that communication piece and there's so many vendors that have portals out there that really maybe only 50% of it is accessed and really taken advantage of. And so I have always felt strongly to, with my reps and any leadership that I've ever had in companies to say we need to sit down with our owners, with our managers, and share everything, put it on the table verbally, give it access digitally, and then you have the full, full umbrella of what is offered. And things like that have to do with starting with the tiers, just knowing what your vendors have to offer. And I've always believed in the power of buying. So the more you buy from one vendor, of course, the more loyal you are, but in return, you're getting more in return. Sometimes there's rewards, sometimes there's Quarterly kickbacks that an account can get because of the volume that they're purchasing. Sometimes there's more exclusive bundle packages because you are, you do have that higher buying power. So really thinking about minimalizing the amount of vendors you buy from, that's a starting point and asking the right questions with your vendors. Seeing the value in having these meetings, I know everyone's busy. I know that it takes a lot to set that 30, 60, 90 day plan with your reps. But it is so valuable in the long run because it adds to your profit margin, it adds value to planning. And why not have your reps help you build your business, access the resources that are available to you? Because I don't think that's completely tapped into by most accounts.
- [03:40]
A
Again, I'm not as familiar with this side of the business and like there's not conversations that I'm typically looped into. But is it the case that most med spa owners, they've got a vendor relationship and like their, their rep is reaching out, trying to turn to talk to them about like what they can do to boost sales and most people are just busy and it kind of gets lost in the shuffle and they just don't really communicate.
- [03:57]
B
Yes, I think that that does happen. You know, it time goes by and then it's three months later and Q1's already over. So I do think that even if it's not an in person meeting, which we know now, you know virtually, meetings are just as productive or can be. And I do think there's a lot of value in that. So please take the time to do so. Have a prepared agenda of what you're looking for. And it doesn't hurt to ask whether it is sampling quarterly or let's plan a contest for my team. The accounts out there that I want to see them selling more, I want to see them upgrading their services. What can you do as a vendor to help me incentivize them? It could be simple as product, it could be treatments, it could be gift cards. There's so many ways to get creative. But working with your reps, working with your vendors is just, it really adds to motivation for your staff and revenue for sure.
- [05:00]
A
Yeah, we had a med spa that we were working with. I remember this conversation. Lauren on our team works with them directly and we pushed them to go back to their vendor because we were helping them with some marketing and promotional stuff. We're like, hey, we'll go talk to your vendor, see if they'll give you support. And they're like, oh, I Didn't even know that I could do that. And they went back and they ended up having this conversation and we ended up getting a bunch of cool support on promoting those that service line. And I think the thing people have to remember when you have vendor relationships. I like what you said, Jacqueline. I think there are certain places like let's talk neurotoxins where you probably want an established relationship to some extent with the big players because that's where a lot of the demand is in the name recognition. But you do want a pretty narrow list of the things that you believe in that you want to sell. Because as you consolidate, you get extra buying power. You're going to get more buy in, more support from your reps, better alignment. And you have to remember your rep is yes, in a sense their job is to sell you more of the product. But the way that they do that successfully is perfectly aligned with your growth as well. Like you them being more successful requires you being more successful.
- [06:00]
B
Yep, absolutely.
- [06:01]
A
It's very synergistic.
- [06:03]
B
And then they are spending more time, they are allocating the event space for you. That's, it's a give and take in that sense. Absolutely. You know, and the other piece to that is as you scale your business and you start to grow, it is much harder to buy from 15 vendors. So why not really look at it whether you are more in that one to five year period or even further, you start to see it's, it's so much easier for inventory purposes and that buying power to try to partner with vendors that have a full range of product that you will purchase.
- [06:45]
A
Yeah. So takeaway number one is communicate regularly with your vendors because you're missing an opportunity to level up your ability to sell and to get support to make those initiatives more successful. It seems like that we all get lost in the shuffle. The more vendors you have, the more likely you are probably are to be blowing off those calls. This is not your Google Ads rep calling you to tell you some like you some bad advice on how to run Google Ads. As somebody that's perfectly aligned with your sales objectives and trying to help you sell more of the things that you're, you're already offering in the service of or in your spa. If you have that relationship.
- [07:15]
B
It's an extended partnership. It's your partner, it's your vendor partner. And to also add to that, reading emails. I know that that's very difficult. You know, even from us, we send out newsletters, but I personally send out information in a way that I feel is easy to absorb with bullet points with quick links with Please save this because that's the other piece. We all know we just skim an email and sometimes things are lost in the shuffle. Whether it might be a limited time promotion that certainly helps with your buying power or all of that marketing stuff. I would say probably 100% of your vendors have some sort of marketing portal where you grab your graphic. You can post that on social media where we create these toolkits at least from our standpoint. We've had a toolkit for our providers since we started because we wanted it to be plug and play from assets, information posts, testimonials before and afters. Those are all things that. Why? Why should you as the account? Because we're busy all the time. You do want to make your own personal content, but lean on your vendors for your content as well. Why recreate the wheel? But you have to really allocate your time to look at these portals to see what's updated and also the education piece of it. There are so many ways that you can access education through the portals that are offered within most vendors that that you can use those as resources. And why recreate that as well?
- [08:57]
A
Yeah, I love that. I like that tip of checking your emails. Like we have versions of that in our business. We're like, hey, this is something we actually should pay attention to. I know we all get like email fatigue. Okay, there's another one of those things. But you might be missing things that are designed to support you and help you. So make sure there's somebody on your team that's dedicated to like, hey, when we get something new from our vendors, we've got eyes on it. We've got a pulse on what we can be doing to increase sales and to provide an incentive to spur action from our clients. Hey, practice owners. Ricky here. And if you're tired of seeing your marketing as an expense, it's time to see it as the investment it should be. At MedSpa Magic Marketing, we specialize in driving predictable massive growth for medspas. We helped one client generate over 2,500 new clients directly attributed from ads in less than 18 months. And these aren't outliers. This is our expectation. We're HIPAA certified by Compliancy Group, rated a perfect five stars on Google. And we provide true consulting and strategic direction to our clients, not just button pushing. If your med spa is able to consistently invest in marketing and advertising and you want a transformative look at the exact frameworks, ads, offers and strategies that we use for our clients. Schedule your complimentary strategy session with me@medspamagicmarketing.com that's medspamagicmarketing.com I have a question that feels like a little bit of a catch 22 for some med spas, probably. So there's this advantage to, you know, bundle pricing and tiers and as you get bigger, you get, you have more leverage. True with with newer med spas or people that are new to the relationship with a vendor. Right. They're just establishing a relationship with a vendor. I think sometimes people can be discouraged because they feel like they're so behind because they know there are other people in the area that have that relationship or they've got the advantage. So how do you recommend people think about when they're getting started with a new vendor to not feel that sense of discouragement because they're so far off from the established practices that do have the advantage of bundle pricing?
- [10:47]
B
That's a really great question. And bundle pricing doesn't necessarily have to be always the buying power is more sometimes it's a promotion that you don't want to miss. You know, there are some accounts out there that will, will take advantage of the buy three get one free booster bundle that we have. So we have skin boosters and that certainly helps with their cost of goods to their treatment room. That's a simple way that, you know, that's a buy three get one free. That's not breaking the bank. It's not, we're not talking thousands of dollars. So it can be on that small scale. And then when it comes to threads, it's buy 5 get 1 free or buy 10 get 3 free. So it doesn't necessarily have to be the accounts that are. Is that there. The accounts that are more established have a higher buying power. It's just knowing how to buy, how to budget. And no, I'm going to have to purchase this every month because forecasting I'm going to do this many treatments in a month. So you plan ahead to be able to purchase in that more bundle packaging, not purchasing every two weeks, but purchasing monthly, maybe every six weeks, depending on your inventory flow. So whether you're just starting off or have been in business for a long time, there are ways to access bundle pricing and added value. A lot of accounts will ask when they first start working with us, do you have an intro offer? And there are a lot of times we do. We offer conversion packages, convert to our threads and you get X. So it's. There are ways and Just in sales in general, because I am in sales. It doesn't hurt to ask. No. From my end to you and from you to me. So why not ask?
- [12:43]
A
Yeah, ask. And don't be afraid to like, dig and poke a little bit. Because you know, you know, you're working with a new rep, a new company, and you are, if you really believe in their products and you want to be selling more of it, there's going to be some, they're going to be excited too. So they'll probably find some ways to maybe be flexible and support you beyond just what is kind of the default.
- [13:03]
B
Absolutely, absolutely. And for some accounts, certain things are more important than others. Some sampling is really important, some the margin is really important. So that's a way also from my standpoint, for us to get a tick on what motivates them, you know, what helps them move the needle, what makes them excited. And the only way to do that is to communicate and develop those relationships. And that's why I think initially those meetings are important whether they are in person or virtually. And I always have encouraged. So at one point in my journey in my career, I worked with an aesthetic school and I always used to say, never stop learning and go to the events show up network. So there's vendors out there that, that offer these really inspiring events and dinners. Go to them, especially in the beginning, because that's where you're going to meet people and hear what they're working on and what is what their wins are or losses and learn from it, learn from each other. And, and that's also where a lot of reps help to, you know, make those connections and then you make those stronger connections with your representatives that I feel like that you stick with them for a lifetime in your career and no matter what brand they work with, then you follow them. And I love that we talk about.
- [14:28]
A
That on like the business to client side. This is still very much. And a lot of so many business are, especially if you're a service business, it's based on relationships. And that's not just true for you and your customers as a med spa, it's also true for you and your vendors. And there's enormous value to deepening those relationships. You talked about limiting the amount of vendors, probably a good idea. I think that goes hand in hand with having some sort of consolidation on service offering. It seems to me like there are a lot of med spas that they just see the new shiny thing and it on paper looks like a new revenue opportunity. So now they've got like 19 different services, most of which are not selling. It's too much information for their clientele to even digest. There's no clarity on like, hey, are these the things you truly believe in? So do you think that there's just a general value in avoiding shiny object syndrome and making sure that your, your. Because if you, if you see your vendor as like an adversary, where they're just trying to pitch you product, it probably means you don't really believe in the product line. If you believe in the product line, you probably won't see it that way. So just the value in selling the things that you believe, a smaller list of things that you actually believe in, for sure.
- [15:31]
B
And again, it makes all of our lives less stressful. If there isn't, I compare it to the Cheesecake Factory menu. I don't know why I use that comparison, but it is, it's very overwhelming. And so not is it, not only is it overwhelming for the owner, manager, provider of all of these offerings, but then I think it then trickles to the consumer, to that patient, to that client. Well, I don't know what I need. I don't know what I want. You have a menu of boosters from Exosomes to pdrn. It becomes overwhelming. And then where's your niche?
- [16:12]
A
Yeah, you're making it harder provider too.
- [16:15]
B
Exactly, exactly. So then there isn't that opportunity to create that real, you know, passion and expertise in, in one specific piece, whether it is aesthetics providers, whatever that might be. And we say it very often, not everyone is going to be passionate about threads, but those that do, they are running with it, they're loving it, and they're complementing their thread services with treatments that are aligned as well. And it's not, it's not a bunch of things. And I had a web chat recently with a provider that said, I never sell to something to anybody that's anyone that doesn't need it. That is the rule of thumb in my practice, and I love that. But if you have all these offerings, how do you manage that? How do you teach your team how to consult on all the offerings that you have? So I agree. Consolidating that, consolidating your vendors. And it's tricky because we, on our last call, we talked about the large device companies, the lasers out there, the energy devices out there that are $100,000 or more. That also isn't always developing the relationship beforehand. Of course, you are being sold to and schmoozed and all accorded in that way. The events, everything and Then where's the support afterwards?
- [17:51]
A
Yeah, you're signed up for the lease.
- [17:55]
B
Yeah, exactly. Like maybe then you then see another rep for the Consumables where again, there's something about what we do where not only are we focused on, focused on training that doesn't have a huge high ticket price, but it has high value that we're not selling, dropping, leaving. Like you have to stay in touch with us to keep that support going and grow to the level two and then maybe even the level three, where with devices it sort of is that one shot thing until they come out with a new shiny thing.
- [18:32]
A
Yeah, yeah, that makes a ton of sense. And I love the menu example. I don't know why I've, I've referenced this show like probably four times on the podcast Bar Rescue with this guy, John Casper, and it reminds me, he used to go in and he would talk to the restaurants about like, hey, this menu is too big. Be good at a few things. Think about this, Think about the message you're sending to your clients when you have basically an unlimited service menu. I think the message that it sends is we're chasing revenue, addition opportunities. We're not selling a core list of services that we believe on and expanding strategically. We just trying to have everything. And how confusing is that? If you go to a restaurant that has that like the Cheesecake Factory menu or like we've got a local sports bar we just went to in my town and there's just a million things like, what are you good at? I don't every, you know, every single thing on that menu is just average. When you go to a restaurant that has a more refined menu, you know, they've made the decision that we're going to be good at these things and I think it gives you extra credibility and like, just like their, the provider, your waiter knows, hey, this is, we got this, this and this. These are the things we're really known for. That's also really good. But, but it's not like. Well, I don't know. You pick.
- [19:34]
B
Absolutely. And I also think that then it's, it's lost in translation of, of really what they need. If they're just there's too much to offer. I think that you, yet you almost lose that authority in a way if also, you know, our industry, Ricky, we know is so. There's so many trends, but I also think there's a lot of science back ingredients and technologies that are here to stay and they have stayed. You know, the basics of the basics. I always say I Still love dermaplaning and I love microdermabrasion. As long as you're using some really quality ingredients post treatment, that's your starting point. And now you boost it even more. Where when I first graduated aesthetic school 25 years ago, we didn't have those ingredients. We didn't have access to, you know, this real science based results products that you can use in treatment and at home. So not following the trends. I think that that also is an important piece because you're investing in it and then you end up holding on to inventory that ends up getting expired.
- [20:45]
A
Yeah, if you're following trends, at least understand the downside risk. Like that's where like devices get a little scary. If you're following a trend based on a $200,000 device and that goes, you know, gets one. We've seen this with a lot of product lines, they get one little blast of bad pr. Now nobody wants it and you still have the debt.
- [21:00]
B
Absolutely.
- [21:01]
A
Tons of risk. There two things on the vendor relationships, sampling.
- [21:05]
B
Any.
- [21:05]
A
Any thoughts on samples that we didn't talk about and how to take advantage of samples from vendors.
- [21:10]
B
So I would say that with when they have certain packages available, sometimes samples come along with that. But again, it doesn't hurt to ask, you know, hey, if I throw in add this to the order, can you put some samples in for my team or I'm doing an event and I have 30 swag bags I need to fill, what can you offer me? You know, whether it is something that the rep could be there in person, depending on the relationship, or a raffle or something that you can collaborate with and partner with. And sometimes that's also on social media. You know, don't forget you just mentioned the tangibles, but I even mean the visuals. Like how do you partner together on social media? Whether it is partner announcing something on an Instagram, live from the vendor, myself, maybe Gio, our owner, we've done that to launch a brand, a component of the brand and get the buzz out there. That's the best way organically to grow.
- [22:17]
A
Yeah. And you can't get the buzz out there. Back to having 97 different product service lines. Really hard to do that. 90 for 97 different things. Anything with event support that you feel like people miss or that you see as just kind of like what should people be looking for in terms of potential event support from vendors and how does that typically work?
- [22:36]
B
So again, it depends. If you are a retail product, then you most likely at some point need to do an event to help with sell through, I think that there is different layers of what you should be asking for when it comes to events. One, let's rally and make sure everybody's trained up and ready to go prior to the event. They understand the product, they understand the benefits, how to consult with it, how to sell. And then events I think have become stressful for some because they think they need to invest all this money into food and drinks and promotions and things like that. It I have seen some of the most successful events be some champagne and sparkling water and little, little bites and there being rooms set up where one of your vendors might be able to do a treatment and there's a rotation. So it's almost like this open house but that there needs to be an ask and the ask could be a series of XYZ and there's a percentage off or put a deposit down and you get this percentage off the full series or the package or memberships. So that's where I've seen it be the most successful. Of course you're selling product at that same time but. But be prepared, be prepared to ask, be prepared to have someone at a retail station selling and that's their post and treatment areas and lean on your vendors to hopefully be there to help. Be the expert and say this is why our brand is so great. And usually that's what creates more urgency for the purchase of these series or memberships, depending on, you know, whatever the goal might be with it. But make sure the goal is clear to the rep, to the vendor and also the team.
- [24:37]
A
Talk to people where events it seems like they can go in one of two directions. I've talked to med spas that they love doing events. They always seem to be really successful. And then I've talked to other practices that try to do an event and it seems like a miserable failure. Any insight as to why there's that discrepancy between hey, these things can work for some people and other times they don't. Is it like they're not established? They don't have relationships with patients that are deep enough? Like is there, they're not marketing it properly. What are the things that you see that usually go wrong or right?
- [25:03]
B
So the successful events are lead time three months ahead of time, starting to plan it, promote it. There's a dollar value that the client comes and actually pays to join the event, to be part of the event under that rsvp. Great. It can go towards your purchase of your series, your product, whatever that might be. But I like the interaction of if you do IV infusion or B12 shots or you do facials in one room and then you have your other providers in another and having those organized spaces and planning. I think the stress comes from the, the mindset. The mindset that this is going to be stressful and if you give a job to everyone, you're delegating and everyone is organized. It runs really smoothly and it can be a lot of fun, especially the ones I've gone to as a patient or as a client and not working it. I have so much fun connecting with women that are my same age, same life time. And it's a great way to also get out there some night and be social. So taking the pressure off of it is good, but making sure you're over prepared because then there isn't much to stress over.
- [26:33]
A
Yeah, that makes sense. I like the three month lead time too. A lot of people make these decisions on a whim and then they try to cram something in and it doesn't go well and then it's hard and don't do it anymore.
- [26:42]
B
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You need time to plan and promote it and do reminders and personally invite people. I think that that's also, you know, please come to our event where this is what's going to be happening and share that there's exciting giveaways and raffles and. And get your community involved. You know, whether it's local shops or I don't know, like get creative.
- [27:09]
A
Yeah, yeah. The more partners you have involved in the event, the you're naturally reaching in and acquiring a new audience with. With pretty much. With pretty. With a lot of ease. Hey there. Wanted to briefly interrupt the episode to make a quick ask. If you're a podcast listener, it would mean the world to us if you leave a review for the podcast, whether that's on itunes or Spotify. It's something I hadn't really remembered or thought of asking for, but it does help us show up more frequently so that we can reach more people with the information that we're providing. So it mean the world to us if you'd leave a review on itunes or Spotify if you're listening on audience audio. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you're in the loop for future videos and you don't miss any of the content that we're putting out. Shifting gears to memberships and series sales. You had a note on there for discussion. Thoughts on just memberships, how to make those successful.
- [28:01]
B
Yeah, so I have a Lot of accounts that tap into our bundle pricing because they have memberships. So back to of course being a member is then giving you a bit of a discount in some ways for certain treatments and then sometimes in that membership, depending on the tiers you're getting potentially something free each month when you come in for your service that's part of your membership, have a planning meeting with your vendors and say this is my plan, this is my tiered membership and I plan to put microneedling with skin boosters as my top one. And I'd like to give something added to those first 100 members or the members that are part of that top tier program. What can you give me? And that's sometimes where maybe a boost of a sheet mask or maybe you're adding on an LED panel, you're adding value to the membership that you're working with your vendor to get access. Those products that are costing you dollars instead of 40, $50 cost of treatment for that add on. So trying to find an item, a product that has high value of results but is costing the account, costing the med spa the business very few dollars. But the, the Persona of it is high ticket value. Like I need this and I need to be part of the membership so that I get this. So whatever that looks like, you know, for us it's our boosters have a very high roi. So that's typically part of most of our accounts. Members like the membership program because it's also something that can be done monthly.
- [29:55]
A
Yeah.
- [29:55]
B
So working with your vendors that actually have a monthly treatment that can be done more frequently is also very valuable and doesn't have this high, high ticket price because I feel like not everybody's spending like that anyways, especially on a monthly basis.
- [30:13]
A
Yeah, I think there's a lot of people that are running membership programs that don't even have product associated with it. And that seems like a really cool add on differentiator. It seems like an extra element of stickiness and really cool if you can incorporate it like you said, where it's got high impact, low cost of goods and produces extra roi. I don't see a lot of people doing that. For some reason that I like. I see a lot of people just doing that like a bank your bucks which I think is generally effective. But what a cool add on to be able to build like a skincare line product subscription into the membership.
- [30:43]
B
Absolutely not exactly. It could be a home care product that then that's your maintenance for the month or it could be the in service, you know Extra mask or whatever it might be. But that's really where I do think there's a nice balance where you want to motivate those membership groups to purchase product and then Maybe they're getting 10% off and then your vendor might be able to extend something extra to you because your brand is. They're going to highlight that brand. The vendor is definitely willing to work with you on that.
- [31:23]
A
Yeah. And think about. I love that, like the fact that one of the things that we always struggle for, especially in a competitive space, is staying top of mind and building stickiness. If you've got a treatment plan that somebody's on that includes product, they're. They're reminded of you every single day, week, month, in between visits of the membership. So it's not like, you know, they're in for their visit and then we're out of sight, out of mind until their next appointment. We now integrated into their skin care routine in two different areas. I like that a lot.
- [31:53]
B
Absolutely. It's a synergy. So you spend all this money on this amazing in service treatment and then you go home and you're using a drugstore brand. It makes no sense, the maintenance of it. You're not going to get there that quickly and at the right pace if you're not using the synergistic ingredients at home. And so it makes the esthetician's job better, the provider's job better. If you are incorporating the ritual at home, which of course we're not putting in the hands of our patients and clients the same percentages, but we are able to incorporate the maintenance so that when they come in for their next treatment, they're getting an even better boost and benefit and that result.
- [32:40]
A
Yeah, we're giving. I just like the idea we always talk about in the consults, not just rubber stamping service treatments, but giving them a treatment plan. I feel like that takes it to another level where they really feel like they're on a comprehensive treatment plan that includes different modalities. They're doing topical, they're in office for services and they're on this like journey instead of just coming in for a service and then being out of sight, out of mind, like I said, and.
- [33:03]
B
Then forgetting about it. It's true. It's, it's, it works that way in the hair care world. You know, women get their hair colored and then you need the maintenance shampoo and conditioner so that your color doesn't fade in between your color services.
- [33:16]
A
Yeah, My wife has that giant bottle in our shower that She's a blonde. Yes.
- [33:24]
B
It makes sense. So why, why in the skincare world has that not 100% caught on yet? Is like just mind boggles me because taking care of your skin is so important because just we, we then end up seeing these patients that didn't wear the sunscreen, didn't have the maintenance, and then you're investing more to fix the problem versus getting to maintain it all the way along. So you kind of need less work if you're maintaining your optimal skin health and you have to do that at home. 50% of the client's success is what they do at home. So why not give them an incentive to buy from you and not Sephora or Ulta? Not that those brands are bad, but we're the professional, we have professional high quality ingredients that we work with in treatment and at home.
- [34:17]
A
Yeah, I love that. Good. Branch off into the conversation about how estheticians and medical providers, I think, can work together here. So I know as an esthetician yourself, that's your background. We've talked to our clients about this and I think the businesses that are most successful, there's really, really good synergy and teamwork between estheticians, medical providers, nurse injectors. Your thoughts on that and how these two things go hand in hand? I think that kind of goes a little bit into what we just talked about.
- [34:44]
B
Finally. Like, finally this is happening. And years ago it wasn't. They were working not, they were not aligned, it wasn't. They were working kind of separately and not necessarily against each other, but there wasn't this synergy. And now I'm seeing estheticians and providers sync up and it's making businesses stronger, it's growing retention because now those patients and clients are coming in for both components and they kind of work off of each other, they complement each other. And especially in those events that we were just talking about, there is room for the esthetician treatment and then there is room for that more advanced clinical. And so why not have them finally work together and you're doing your advanced clinical services that are not things that are treated every month and then you are seeing skin specialists to maintain those results. And when you do those more advanced services, from thread lifts to different laser treatments, to even facelifts, your skin quality really does impact how great those results are. So we've always thought that that was a missing link here, and now I'm finally seeing it happen and, and everybody's working together respecting, you know, those, those buckets of what we do best. And Again, that goes back to niche and expertise and passion. And there's room for all of us now, which is so cool to see. And I see that with PDO Max. It's a medical device company with PDO threads, but in a static world. But we also now have esthetic skin care for home care and skin boosters that can be used by providers as well as estheticians. How cool is that?
- [36:43]
A
Yeah, I love that. It's like the, the difference between being a med spa, that's the restaurant where you just have a menu that people come select, and being a coach and the personal trainer that's giving them a comprehensive treatment plan. And I think it requires you to weave these two things together, right? The, the aesthetics, the product, the product lines and the topicals and the surface treatments and all of those to blend together to create a treatment plan for the client instead of just rubber stamping, like, hey, we have a. Just pick what you want. We're the. We're the coach, we're the guide, we're the personal trainer. And those things need to work together. And when they work together, like anecdotally, I'll give everybody this example when we run ads for clients where we're trying to build like a new. Build the client base through Injectables. If we've got a version of an ad that we run, we talk about this on the YouTube channel and the podcast a little bit. That's basically a combo service where they're going to come in for injectables and they're going to come in for a facial in this case. But they're seeing now the injector, the medical provider and the esthetician.
- [37:38]
B
And.
- [37:39]
A
And we track retention, though that specific introductory offer has the highest retention because they've built two visits with two different providers into the experience, and now they feel integrated into the practice and they're on the. They're kind of bought in. They're on a treatment plan instead of just getting a service rubber stamped.
- [37:56]
B
Oh, absolutely. And there are statistics from many years ago from the retail world is that a client or patient is 70% more likely to come back to you if you. If they purchased a product from you. And that sort of. I came from the hair world many years ago in that. The stylist industry, and that was exactly that. If you put a bottle of whatever it might be home with them and in front of them, now they're thinking of you when they need to replenish it as well. So it's the same thing. Like you Said the the bathroom counter is your vanity. That's the product. They're thinking of you for your treatment and now they're thinking of you for the product that they need to replenish or come back to receive. And it also ties to the expertise world. So estheticians, those injector providers, the hair world was the same way. Some are color specialists and some are cutting. So why not just follow that passion and keep yourself in that, that realm, but really collaborate together and that's where you're getting the best result.
- [39:08]
A
Yeah, I love that. Jacqueline, thank you so much for sharing. I think these were great insights. Give people some action items, some things to think about, how to take advantage of the vendor relationship to integrate both the skincare product lines with service offering to create more stickiness. Where can people learn more about PDO Max? Everything that you're up to? We'll make sure all this stuff's in the show notes too.
- [39:28]
B
Absolutely. Thank you so much for that opportunity. I think that. Well, first off, you could see pdomax.com follow us on any social platforms as well. The newest brand that I was speaking about is Lume MV Skincare and we do have a Glow between kit that is exactly what we were talking about earlier. That is that in between spa experience from your treatment room to home, that glow between. And I think what's most, what I'm most passionate about is of course this, this company and you and I have talked about this before, is run by women that I really inspire me and we care about the clinical confidence of our accounts and training. I think that's also another piece that isn't always at the top priority for your vet from your vendors and that is from us. And that's important to me and why I'll go on any platform and educate or get on any zoom and talk about how much I love the product and love working with this company because of the support that we give from the starting point to five, ten years down the road. And that's important to partner with someone that way. And that was important to me as a leader in sales and within this industry. So pdomax.com loompenvskincare.com and follow us on social too.
- [40:58]
A
And we'll make sure again, all those things are in the show notes if people are checking out the product line. I really like Jacqueline. This is something I think we might want to explore bringing into our practice. What's the best way to contact you all? Is it through the website?
- [41:08]
B
Through the website or info.max.com. i'm happy to connect with anybody that is just exploring threads or skincare skin boosters. Pdrn. Let's do it.
- [41:21]
A
Awesome. Yeah. Like I said, we'll include those in the show notes. Jacqueline, thank you so much for sharing your insights. We'll have you on again soon hopefully.
- [41:27]
B
Absolutely. Thank you so much.
- [41:29]
A
Hey, something fun we're going to throw on the end of this episode. After Jacqueline and I stopped recording, we had a follow up conversation closing out the episode where we talked about practices just that are generally not as successful with product sales and Jacqueline's thoughts and candid insights on how to help your med spa increase product upsells to add profitability to your practice. And while we're having the conversation conversation like two a minute in I hit record on my phone and asked Jacqueline for permission. So the audio quality will be a little bit rough potentially here. But I thought it was worth throwing this little addition on the back end of the episode. So I hope you enjoyed this extra.
- [42:04]
B
Couple bonus minutes that they purchased maybe for a higher price point than what you're even selling it at. Because Sephora products are not cheap. Department storage products are not cheap and they're not as high quality as what essentially estheticians can get their hands on to sell.
- [42:20]
A
So it's just people feel uncomfortable about talking about it at the end of a visit. Essentially. Yeah.
- [42:25]
B
Because they've already spent the money on the product.
- [42:27]
A
Yeah.
- [42:28]
B
Is why I think sometimes memberships and series work because now they're not opening their wallets to.
- [42:33]
A
Yeah, they've pre purchased it. It's part of what they already bought into.
- [42:37]
B
So maybe they're gonna buy a 50 eye cream or whatever it might be. So I think why there's still that fear, I don't know. And I even wrote a book about it because I just, I get so frustrated that it's, that's the key to that success and that revenue and working harder trying to do in service than making money by retailing to them as well. You know I, you're, you're physically working by getting that revenue from the treatments. But you don't realize what a bonus it is to retail product.
- [43:21]
A
Like that's so interesting.
- [43:22]
B
Yeah. Thousands of dollars a month.
- [43:24]
A
So people are just scared to talk about it at the end of the appointment. Do you think it's because people are like they're working with product lines or things that they just don't maybe believe in or they don't know enough about. They haven't educated the providers and if they, if they really were like, hey, I love this product. I think it's awesome. People would be a little more eager to do it instead of just it feeling like maybe if you're carrying a product line just to do it, you feel like you're just selling for selling sake.
- [43:44]
B
I think there's that component. But I also think, you know, at least from a provider standpoint, providers are medical professionals that don't really sell anyways. Like they might upsell to another syringe of filler but they're not selling products. So most of the time it's, they're relying on the estimate esthetician. And the problem with that is that the esthetician in their mind closes the wallet for the patient or for that client. So I see that very often, you know, they've already spent $400. You know, I can't ask her to spend another 200. So this is the kit, right. This is $249. I've had estheticians say to me how will I ever sell that? Like with authority and tell them that they need this because when you look at it, they're spending on their online shopping sprees or Sephora days just as much.
- [44:40]
A
Yeah.
- [44:41]
B
So don't, don't assume and don't close the wallet for them because for some skin care is what they spend their money on. They're not spending it on fancy this or that. Like some, some people really spend money on, on investing in their skin care.
- [44:57]
A
And those people are likely the people that are in your med spa or at least there's a good chunk of them there.
- [45:01]
B
So they see the value, the quality.
- [45:04]
A
Yeah, they're the people that care about this. So it's, it's basically people are afraid they're going to feel pushy. But if you just at least talk about it and present it and let people self sort like it might be that 1 in 6 people end up buying that. But that's a huge addition to your sales. If one in six people do end up buying the product line and now they love the product line and they're buying it from you several times a year. They're on a membership that includes product.
- [45:26]
B
Absolutely. And that's really where the, the owner of the spa needs to give them 20%. Maybe do a tiered contest and tiered just goals. Like maybe it's a team based pay thing or maybe it's a, hey, if we sell this much in retail product for the month, everybody gets whatever. Everybody's making more money anyways. So it is that I think that there is less focus on retail sales for whatever reason unless you're in the retail department and like that's a whole other shark world where I started off in Chanel 25 years ago. And if you didn't make your goal, you're in trouble.
- [46:09]
A
Yeah. So that's so interesting.
- [46:11]
B
Everything that you could. So if you know that's cardi your job and don't get lazy with it and you just keep building on it, you'll do it, you'll get it.
- [46:20]
A
Yeah. That's awesome. That's good advice.
- [46:23]
B
Yeah, I think it's important. I feel like the patience already have.
- [46:27]
A
Yeah, I love that. Thanks everyone for tuning in. This podcast is a production of medspa Magic Marketing. If your med, spa or aesthetic practice is in need of digital marketing services, help with advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Google lead generation and booking more appointments, please visit Medspamagicmarketing.com.