← Med Spa Success Strategies
Med Spa Success Strategies
How Top Med Spas Thrive: Local Influencers, Dummy-Proof SOP's & Accountability w/ Traci Andreason
00:49:44
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- [00:02]
A
Welcome to Med Spa Success Strategies. I'm your host Ricky Shockley with Med Spa Magic Marketing. And this is where Med spa 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 for their teams, their patients and their communities. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Tracy Andreasen. Tracy is the founder of Rise Rejuvenation Center. She's a board certified nurse practitioner and and experienced advanced aesthetic injector with a background in facial plastics. She offers injectable treatments including tox filler, regenerative treatments and women's health services. She's a speaker and national trainer for the industry and is the CEO and owner of Injectors Guide, a learning platform for medical professionals. Tracy is passionate about enhancing natural beauty, helping people feel their very best. She encourages a healthy lifestyle to promote longevity and overall well being. Tracy's happily married to her husband Jeff. They have two beautiful sons and live at the base of the mountains in Utah. In her free time, Tracy enjoys outdoor recreation, spending quality time with friends, family and boating. Tracy, we're really excited to have you on. Thanks for being on the show.
- [01:05]
B
Thank you so much for having me.
- [01:06]
A
So obviously when we're screening for guests, I know some of the most interesting conversations that we've had on this podcast that are some of our most viewed episodes are practice owners that are doing what everybody wants to be doing. They're running a successful med spa. And when I look at your Google reviews, you have hundreds, over 500 five star reviews on Google and a five star rating. And I think that that matters a ton. That's a pretty, I mean we can all doctor patient testimony or cherry pick patient testimonials and all sorts of things, but it's hard to game the system that is Google reviews. So how do you think about patient care? What is the process that your team follows to make sure that you're setting yourself up for success and getting those five star reviews from patients and setting a good foundation in terms of building a reputation?
- [01:50]
B
Such a good question. I think the first step is, yeah, delivering on patient experience to make sure that when you're asking for a review that it ends up being a five star. And I think that starts with the very first interaction which is how they find you. Whether that's the website, social media, a referral like making sure that the way you're presenting yourself before they even step foot in the door sets you up for success, expectations can be met. You're not, you know, setting them up to expect one thing and get another when they get here. So by the time they get here, hopefully they have an idea of how great we are. But then when they are here, we treat them like, like a vip, regardless of who they are, how they heard about us, what their visit is for, who they're booked with, they are like, should feel like the only person in this practice. So that means, like logistically that everything is an sop. Like how we speak to the patient when they come in, how we room the patient, what we offer them in the room, how the provider starts their visit, how the provider ends their visit. Like everything is a protocol. And I think if you don't have that, it's hard to scale systems that kind of protect that five star experience. You know, this is very heavy people business. Like the people at the front desk, the people in the room with the patients, everything is just human error is ready to go at all times. So the amount you can remove of that, you know, and just give them an experience so that when there are little snafus, they're not noticed, I think that's key. So keeping protocols and systems in place that deliver that five star experience. And then as far as getting reviews, I always think about it like with cockroaches in a restaurant, like, you'll for sure get a Google review for that. But how do you get somebody to say like, hey, that met my expectations? Because I think when you promote yourself as being great and then they come in, they're like, yeah, that was great. You, you may not have blown their mind. And that's kind of the point, right? Like you shouldn't be, they shouldn't be shocked that you're amazing when they come in. And I think that's the other time people leave reviews is when something completely blows their mind as far as how amazing it is. And so I think I don't leave Google reviews personally unless someone asks me for it or it hits one of those two things extremes. And I think if you're really well done in marketing that you shouldn't be shocking people. They should be getting exactly what they came for. And so when you ask them like, hey, and I'm so glad you had a good experience today, would you be willing to leave a review for us on Google? It really helps other people get to experience what you experienced. Then if you read our Google reviews, they're not like, had a great time, love this place. There are so many detailed reviews where people actually want to sing our praises because we did meet their expectations. We did go above and beyond. They did feel like we're not just a regular old med spa. And I think that's what really counts is that we're not soliciting reviews that we don't deserve, you know?
- [04:43]
A
Yeah, no, I Love that about SOPs. Perfect timing because as of publishing this episode, if you're watching our feed, I think my last we did like a Wednesday shorts, which is a four or five minute video usually, and we were talking about sops. So I have a couple follow up questions on that. When you're developing those SOPs and trying to standardize what greatness looks like in your practice, is that like a democratized thing? Are you setting aside time with the team? Is the team responsible for making those? How do you actually get those in place? What was the process of deciding what those sops entailed?
- [05:13]
B
Well, I think there's a great book start with why by Simon Sinek. So good. But that's kind of what I lean on. We have, I think every good business should have a mission statement and some commitments that are just part of their core values. And maybe that's a little bit of a, you know, a liquid document. It's not maybe going to stay exactly the same as you grow and scale. But so far ours has, and every single product, service, protocol, person we hire has to align with those core values and our mission statement. So that's the first like litmus test, like is this an appropriate protocol? But then as far as building it, that's my job. I think it's a visionary and our leadership team to deliver on the protocols that we expect. We, we definitely get feedback because we've, we are a small business. We are almost four years in, but some, I mean our team has been with us that entire time and that first year you learn so much. And I think keeping an open dialogue with your team of like where systems are bring breaking and what they think would be the solution. And then it's my job to come up with a protocol and a system and the appropriate training and follow through on that so that our team doesn't feel the weight of small business ownership and you know, the, the headache that comes with building a systemized practice.
- [06:27]
A
Do you follow eos, Tracy?
- [06:30]
B
No.
- [06:30]
A
Okay. You said visionary and I know it's like an EOS term and the SOPs and the visionary terms. I was curious.
- [06:36]
B
Oh, funny.
- [06:37]
A
Yeah, yeah. So, so with the SOP creation that kind of stems from you, how do you ensure those things are actually being followed through and adhered to?
- [06:46]
B
That is a Great question. We have leaders over our categories, so we have a medical and then an aesthetic director and they do monthly one on ones with our staff. We essentially have like a protocol handbook. And so if we see that someone is needing support in an area we're not seeing follow through on that, we can always lean on those protocols, like, hey, is that happening? And then the other is just working it into the system so that they don't have to remember the protocol. So like, let's use front desk as an example. A check in process should be visible through the check in person at all times. Like, these are the five things I need to do with this patient before you ever get them back to the room. And it's not a detailed outline of the protocol, but it's like the bullet list of like, make sure you're doing these things. And so it's an expectation. And I think you can only expect your team to perform to the level that you're willing to keep them accountable to. So that accountability piece and having a good leader in place is essential.
- [07:42]
A
Yeah, I love that. That's awesome. That's one of the things we talked about in that video I referenced was making the SOPs actionable. I know it's something we've always struggled with in our business is how do you make this thing not just a long winded document that explains, like, you can't expect people to read it, absorb it, and regurgitate it consistently for most of these things. So how do you build it into your workflow so that it's sort of dummy proof? And that was a good example, a good reminder of how important that is. So this shouldn't be like, they train the SOP and then you just set them out and hope they do what you want them to do. It should be built into their workflows.
- [08:17]
B
Yes. Set them up for success. For sure.
- [08:19]
A
Yeah, that's great. I want to talk about the marketing angle and one of the things you said there, which is setting yourself up for the expectation to be high. I want to talk about how you do that later. But one of the other episodes that I referenced before this podcast that where you were interviewed, you mentioned under promising and over delivering. How do you do that when you're simultaneously trying to balance that with the goal of setting the expectation for excellence up front?
- [08:41]
B
Mm. Well, I think a lot of it, a lot of what we do with people is out of our control as far as how they feel about it. Because like I said, it's a people business. We have Google, we've got social media where people come in with so many, I guess, ideas of what a positive outcome looks like for them. For instance, let's bring an injectables patient into this. You know, maybe they found us, they saw that we were amazing because they saw before and after of somebody who had a home run, full face transformation. And they come in for that. And they saw that our, you know, our website smooth and our providers are educated and our booking was frictionless and all these things. And then they come in and they have two decades more of facial aging on their face. If I then said, hey, I love that you liked that before and after, we can totally do that for you. Here's your treatment plan, then I think they'll be disappointed in the end. So I think a lot of it is that in house expectation of like, what we're able to provide for the patient based on them and making sure they know, like, hey, I'm so glad you brought that to me. So I can understand what your end goal is here. And I'm going to do a full face assessment on you specifically expecting that outcome. Of course you wouldn't expect that because that's not your face. This is, you know, somebody else's face. We're going to make sure that we land where your potential is, not where that person's potential is. And then under promising, like, you know, let's say you're trying to get somebody in for that filler visit and you say, hey, you know, I think if we do two visits, you know, in your mind, you think this is going to be two visits and then she's going to be thrilled. I would say I would plan on three visits to get to your end goal. And, you know, and let's just to leave some room for that, you know, room for it to change up a little bit. When you are addressing patients, like, there's just flexibility that needs to happen. And I think if you're eager to make sure the patient knows that you're going to promise the moon, the sun, the stars, and then you can't get them the stars because it's not practical, they don't see it as well. That makes sense that you didn't deliver on that. They think like, you didn't deliver on your promise. So if you can say like, hey, it's possible that this is. That we don't get full correction, or it's possible that this takes three sessions to get to your final outcome. They're going to be so much happier when they're like, it only Took two. My God, you're a magician. Or like I did get full correction. We weren't sure that would happen.
- [11:02]
A
Yeah. So no, that's awesome. I love that. So I like your sequence there. So there's kind of the sequence of, hey, we want our marketing, our branding. The things that people are finding when they're trying to figure out where to schedule a visit for a med spa. We want to maximize excitement there, show our best work, maximize excitement. And then when we're in office and we're customizing the treatment plan to that client, let's use that as the opportunity to reset expectations. So we set ourselves up to under promise and over deliver. And so there's kind of an order of operations there that I think is kind of interesting. And then I love that you're having the hard conversation up front. This is something we talk about a lot, which is sometimes when, if you're a provider, for example, and you want to make the client happy in that moment, you don't want to tell them something that they might not be. You don't want to tell them that it's going to take three treatments. If you think you might be able to squeeze it in two, you want to tell them you're going to squeeze it in two because you know that'll be more palatable for maybe their budget. So you tell them two, and then if they get to a third, now you're having to have the conversation after the second visit. Having those conversations up front is a very important part of that process too.
- [12:06]
B
Yes. Oh, yeah. I think about this when I train new injectors. I think about this when I tell them to always book your patient back for a follow up because you need to learn from your work and how you're delivering. You're not going to tell the patient, hey, I'm going to schedule you for a follow up in two weeks. Just in case I didn't quite get it right. You're going to say, hey, I'm a perfectionist. I see all my new patients back in two weeks because I want to make sure it's fully optimal. And that would mean maybe your brow is pulling just a little bit because I want to make sure that your brows remain lifted. But it's no problem. I'm going to see you back in two weeks. Imagine what the client experiences when they're at day 13, the day before the follow up and one patient heard, hey, I'm new and I want to see you back to make sure it went well. They're probably canceling Their follow up, because I knew it. This person was incompetent. She was too new. Now my forehead's messed up and I don't trust her to deliver on an outcome versus the other person is thinking, oh, my gosh, I'm so glad I got the most perfectionist injector. It happened. I have a little bit of spot around. I'm going to go and see her tomorrow and she's going to get it perfect. You know, it's like all those little things, those nuances make such a big difference in the patient perception of literally the same deliverable.
- [13:09]
A
Yeah, that is so true. I love the nuance of language and how important that is because you're kind of saying the same thing when you boil it down, but you're delivering it in a way that instills confidence instead of planting a seed of doubt.
- [13:23]
B
Yes. Yeah, exactly.
- [13:24]
A
How do you in your office make sure that SOPs align with that and that that's something that's consistently happening as you grow in scale.
- [13:34]
B
Training is essential, like continued training of staff and not just on like, hey, we've got a new service, let's make sure we know how to do it. It's like repeat training on consultation with the patient and how we speak to our patients. The other piece, as far as like getting the stuff that's like big picture, how we want to be represented and how it happens in the room is, it's literally in our charting system. So, like in a consultation, I like to build connection first at the start. It literally says, like, discovery, like, this is time for discovery to get to know your patient. Then it goes into, like, what are their goals? Then it goes into the assessment. But like, we have no business assessing someone. We don't know if they have a dog yet, you know. Yeah, we gotta, like, get to know the person, make them feel human. And so I think though, like taking those pieces of, like, what's important that a patient walks out and has this kind of experience. We try to put those in where the providers are going to see, you know, those step by step little touch points that I think make us special.
- [14:33]
A
Yeah. Back to making it dummy proof and so that you can have a consistent experience and a consistent result. Today's episode is sponsored by Gloss. Genius. Gaps in your schedule, Patients who don't rebook, tight margins, high fees and a clunky EMR holding it all together. Sound familiar? You'd love to be growing your practice, but you don't have time to figure out your next move, let alone sit down to eat lunch. That's why I want to tell you about Gloss Genius. It runs in the background to fill your calendar, find revenue hiding in your practice, and handle your admin automatically, charting consents and HIPAA compliant records included. And unlike other systems, Gloss Genius's point of sale actually earns you more rebooking patients at checkout, increasing what they're willing to spend and saving you thousands with the lowest flat rate and zero hidden fees. Ready to learn more and take back your time? Use code strategies@glossgenius.com for 50% off your first two months of the gold or platinum plan. That's code strategieslossgenius.com for 50% Off Gloss Genius More revenue for your business, more time for everything else. 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 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.
- [16:09]
B
Out.
- [16:10]
A
You mentioned that your team has been a lot of your team has been with you since you started over four years ago. So good follow up question. There is, I guess one is retention. How do you accomplish that? You know, when there's opportunities left and right and the Internet's in everybody's face trying to pull them in different directions, how do you create a sense of connection and how do you retain key team members?
- [16:34]
B
Well, first is don't be an asshole. I think that's like key. I think that a lot of it is like balancing that culture and I still remember when we founded the company that I that was top of mind for me because I think maybe it's just me, but I feel like the med spa space can be toxic and it can be very catty and competitive and there's a lot of different structures. Med spas are set up differently where, you know, it feels like there's providers fighting for a piece of the piece of. They want to see as many patients as possible. If the next person is seeing patients, that means they get Less of the pie. And it creates this toxic work environment where we're not working together as a team, everyone is there for themselves. And then it makes it so that if the business makes any kind of change, which inherently you will, that if it affects their goal, their individual goal, you've like become enemy number one. So I think that's key. But because of my knowledge of kind of how that would work, you know, I've sat in break rooms as an employee and listened to the griping of coworkers and what they hated. And I thought, oh my gosh, if I start a space that culture is forefront of every decision, every marketing decision, every hire, every new protocol, every new training, every staff meeting where culture is top of mind, I'll bet you I'll be so much more successful because turnover is so expensive. The fact that most of the time the break room is filled with people like bitching and moaning about literally the place they're sitting and eating in like, ate me alive. I'm like, how is this possible? And then the cost to train somebody and then the effect of, I mean, I'm sure anyone listening can understand, like it just becomes this mass havoc on the business and very disruptive. And so we like, we don't hire somebody. A perfect example of that, like honing the culture is we don't hire someone unless we have buy in from everyone and they're part of the decision. It is a very slow hire process. They have to do a vibe check where they're coming in and having lunch with our team and everyone's got an opinion or if we're rolling out a new protocol. We know that rolling out multiple things really quickly, even if they're positive changes, is really difficult for people to manage mentally. So we'll wait at least six weeks to roll out something else. Even if I'm so pumped, I'm like, they're going to love this. Too much change too fast is very unsettling for somebody and it feels like they're carrying the burden of a new business and no one likes to feel that. So it's a long winded answer to say we shield our team from the struggles and burdens of small business and protect the culture like a newborn baby. Like, it is everything to me. My team is everything to me. They're like family. We hire so intentionally. We also fire intentionally. And honing in on that culture has left us to have really, really great retention of team.
- [19:26]
A
I love that. Obviously you hear a lot of different opinions on hiring and firing. Hire fast, fire slow, Fire. Fat.
- [19:32]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [19:34]
A
Seems to have a different opinion on that.
- [19:36]
B
How you.
- [19:37]
A
I guess let's start on the second one here. Firing. When you're trying to create a family environment, how do you balance that with. Sometimes there's a need to pull the plug on a relationship.
- [19:48]
B
Well, and it's happened, sadly. First of all, in our interview process, I am extremely blunt with them about how important it is that they're not disruptive to culture. I tell them obviously in a positive way, like, hey, it's really important for us and our team to feel like they have a safe space to be that their coworker is never going to be talking behind their back poorly. That we can all handle constructive criticism, that we all have the same goal, that when one of us rises, we all rise. No pun intended. But you know, that piece is so essential to like set them up to know how important it is because we have a 60 day probation period and there are many things that are coachable. Like if they're not getting the software system or they're not understanding the check in process or maybe they need more time to train up on a certain treatment. They're not done by 60 days. Game on. I think that people need appropriate coaching and we have to leave room for that. If somebody shows me their character in those first 60 days and it's not aligned with company culture, they're gone immediately. I don't think that's something you can coach. That is, sadly, something I didn't pick up in the interview process or the bag check. And I wish I would have. But that is essential to the operation of my business to not have poor culture or gossiping. And so luckily we do have kind of family unit. So when it happens, someone will bring it to me and then I give the person an opportunity to talk to me about it. Most of the time they. Well, it's only happened twice. Okay, most of the time. But two options. You know that there's just a lot of dishonesty around that because no one wants to admit that they were the rotten apple. Right. And then again, show of character. I'm like so dishonest and prone to gossiping. And you're like 30 days in my. My friend, we can't. Like that's not coachable. So it's an expensive mistake to hire the wrong person, but it's, I think more expensive to keep the wrong person.
- [21:40]
A
Yeah, that's my experience too. It's. You kind of know pretty fast.
- [21:44]
B
Yeah.
- [21:44]
A
And go with your gut. Once you know, you know, don't let that linger because it's a lot more toxic and detrimental to your business to let that go on for six months or a year when you know, yeah, you see the writing on the wall. Don't try to jam the square peg into the round hole, especially when it's on the things that are non negotiables like culture, values, work ethic. So that's. Yeah, that's awesome. On the hiring side, how do you go about hiring? Are there any, like, tips, tricks, rules of thumb that you follow that are unique to you that you think would be helpful to share?
- [22:14]
B
Well, my first tip is if it's not a hell yes, it's a no.
- [22:17]
A
It's a good one.
- [22:18]
B
Like, truly. But like, a yes is not enough for me. It needs to be a hell yeah.
- [22:22]
A
Like, they might be able to do the job. Like, that seems yes.
- [22:25]
B
Yeah, they could check the boxes and their resume is good. But like, if I wasn't feeling a hell yes or who, whatever their direct reports or their direct co workers weren't a hell yes, I'm like, it's a hard decision or like, maybe it was going to be financially advantageous for us to do it, but I was afraid that, you know, it just wasn't a good fit. So it's not a hell yes, it's a no. Is basically like, where I like to lean. And that's because I get in this analysis right when I'm looking to hire and grow the team, like, I just want to do it. Even though we want to hire slowly and intentionally, like, it's a lot of work. We go through all these interviews. We have a phone call interview, we have an in person interview, and then we have the vibe check and then a potential final interview to discuss what the role would look like. And when you're doing all of that with multiple people, you're kind of exhausted. You just want to make a decision. So I'll normally fall back on that. If it's not a hell yes, it's a no. So that I'm not just under my own pressure to just go ahead and choose somebody. I'm like, sorry, you literally just went through all that and everyone's either a maybe, a yes or a no. But there are no hell yeses in this batch.
- [23:27]
A
Yeah.
- [23:28]
B
And it's a good way for me to check myself because otherwise I know I would land on all the yeses and just hire help.
- [23:33]
A
I need to fill the seat. And you just pick the best of the options instead of waiting to get the hell yes.
- [23:39]
B
And it is hard because our team, like, if we're understaffed and we're growing and we need that because someone's wearing three hats now, you know, you think that that would have such a negative impact, but our team, because we're so transparent, they know that we're just intentionally hiring, and they're willing to wear that third hat for a minute to make sure we're hiring the right person. And so I think it also has a positive impact on culture, honestly, to be that intentional and to be that picky, you know, that your team knows, like, you're not just hiring the next person. You're hiring, like, a key player.
- [24:08]
A
Yeah. No, that's awesome. I love that. So I had a couple questions, but I'm going to blend them into one different question, actually. So we're going to talk about how to show up when people. Like, how to make sure that people are showing up with a good attitude. Everybody's got stuff going on in their lives. How do we help people do that? How do we hold them accountable to that? But I think all of there's a couple of questions here that really come down to one thing that I think is a little more interesting that a lot of us as business owners struggle with. How do you have hard conversations with people?
- [24:37]
B
Yeah, that is a tricky one. First of all, you need to be having lots of soft conversations with people to earn the hard conversation. I believe, like, if you're not having enough positive interactions with somebody, you don't get to, like, come in and expect a good outcome from a hard conversation. So I think about it with, like, I read a parenting book when I'm like, that is like, business. It talked about how if you listen at the park to. To kids playing around, you listen to the parents. The parents are only interacting when the children need correction. Like, hey, oh, don't jump off that. And then they go back to visiting with their friend. And then like, hey, go. Go to the bathroom. I can see you doing pee dance or whatever. You know, like, you only hear correction and, like. But the other 90% of the time, that child is available for something positive, like, wow, I saw you made a friend. Good job. Or, I saw that you went down the slide safely. Thank you. Or I saw you listen to your body. You know, it's kind of funny to relate it back that I have two young kids, and it. When I hear parenting books, I'm like, that's the same. We're like, maybe if we stop focusing so much on correction and we focus on positive Interactions with people that when we do have to say like, hey, don't go down the slide like that they're like, okay, but like same team. Because you also saw how badass I just was and you recognize that and you're on my, you're on my team and you're telling me that because you see the best in me and you want me to be the best, not because you see the worst in me and you think I suck. You know, so I think that is key. And then the other, because I am not naturally great at confrontation. Like that is probably my weak point is I have somebody hold me accountable for the follow through on it. Like, hey, I'm, you know, like my practice manager or someone on the executive team. Like, here's the conversation I need to have and this is my, this is what I want out of it and this is the, the line I want to hold because then I know I have someone to show up for if I did it.
- [26:27]
A
Yeah.
- [26:27]
B
Because it's so easy when I get started to just be like, and you know what actually do you want to go get. I forgot what I was going to talk about altogether. You know, I just like want to avoid it. But I'm like, no, I have to show up and say yes. And you're like, I blew that. Someone hold me accountable to be having those hard conversations.
- [26:46]
A
Yeah, that's great. And accountability partner. I think the more you do it, the more comfortable you get to with anything.
- [26:50]
B
Totally.
- [26:51]
A
And I love that like if you're, if there's lots of positive interactions, it makes that negative conversation that might have to be a little bit more direct, a little bit easier to digest. We talk about this too is sometimes it's so hard. The natural inclination for businesses is we solve problems. So it can very easily feel like we're just fixing problems all day and paying attention to the negatives. How do you intentionally remember to or systematize positive reinforcement and just positive shares and wins in general in the business?
- [27:25]
B
Okay. Well as of recently, so we've leaned into AI so much the last two years and we have an AI patient care coordinator who's in the software and I will ask her, will you send me a rundown of wins for the day? So I've got them like, hey, kudos to so and so because they, you know, got a membership on every patient who came in or they had their highest retail sales yet. So that's, that's been nice just for convenience of getting those wins. But if I didn't have that, I find them myself and just put an alarm in my, you know, phone to go check on something. But the others that we have, we call it rising moments. And that's anybody in the business can shout out their team members at our staff meeting. And so we have just a moment set aside for everyone to appreciate each other's efforts because there's so much stuff I don't see. And it's important that they know that they're seen by their peers and not just by KPIs, you know, like a positive interaction with the patient or like, hey, she stepped in when I was swamped and didn't need to. But you know, yeah, that kind of stuff is important to us. Just to make sure that like again, protocolized. It happens every single meeting we have. We have that time set aside for those positive remarks.
- [28:35]
A
Yeah, that's awesome. With the. So skipping, I guess to the AI patient coordinator. Since you brought that up, I'm interested. You'll be my first that I've asked these questions to. Since you mentioned you're into the AI stuff. I think there are a lot of people listening to this podcast as of filming this. I know people listen to this a year from now or maybe this, this will be dated. But for those listening right now, what are you doing with AI in your business? What are you finding in terms of practical applications and I guess talk to us about this AI patient coordinator.
- [29:02]
B
Yeah. Gosh, where am I not using it? I'm trying to be environmentally conscious, you know, not like overusing it. Because that does, you know, make you feel a little guilty by, you know, when you could be using your brain like you use your brain. But there are so many areas you can use AI to consolidate time and improve efficiency. That is just next level. So we will operational wise, like on the day to day. Our patient care coordinator, it's part of our software system. We use podium. It can schedule patients, it can respond to texts, it can auto respond to a missed call. It does. We can set up campaigns or drip sequences that follow up with leads and. And then also on the other side, like we have direct. So there's the patient to AI component and then there's the AI to practice component where we can say like, hey, tell me like how many patients have had lip filler in the last year that haven't come back for a second and like pull data that you normally would want to mine for. Yeah, but it's so fast and that now you know who it is and if you wanted to launch a campaign. So we use it for marketing, we use it for patient interaction, scheduling. It's basically like an assistant to our front desk. But it's incredible. It is scary. You know, we've been training our AI for two years and there's still areas where like, just a human would do it better. So it's scary to give your brand to a robot essentially and be like, good luck. Make sure you're talking the way that I am selective.
- [30:39]
A
And you have to train it, I would say. Right.
- [30:41]
B
Oh yeah, Even probably more than an employee, in my opinion, because even though AI does know its limits, sometimes it assumes. I'm trying to think of a good example of this where like an employee would have killed it. Like a good example. Let's say you onboarded an AI patient care coordinator and a patient texted in and said, how much is your dysport per unit? And the AI might say back, we don't offer dysport, we offer Botox. And maybe you do offer a disc where you just never told her that Botox was just only the name you had in your booking site or something. Where like a human would know that, that that's a brand of neurotoxin. We have multiple options or would know, like, do we offer that and would know to go ask somebody. But if you've, if you've told AI, here's everything we have to offer and you miss those little details, they're confident that you don't have it right. So then you get those, those moments where you're like cringing a bit. But I will say, because we have 24, seven, all those after hours leads are I think, paying off for like the random cringe response that we might get.
- [31:51]
A
Yeah, it's a trade off. Right. There's a big pro and there's of course a con. But you're trying to, you're managing the trade off. I love that. Podium is a sponsor of ours, so it's a cool shout out. So it sounds good. Good to know you've liked the software it sounds like. And the AI tools. Any other AI tools outside of Podium that you use or is that the main one?
- [32:08]
B
I love Claude.
- [32:09]
A
Yeah, I've been using that a lot more lately.
- [32:11]
B
ChatGPT, we use soap, no AI, which is a, like, it can listen into your consultation, it's HIPAA compliant and then it will summarize everything. So when I'm doing like an hour consultation with a patient, I can just be there with my patient and not be like tap, tap, tap, typing everything they say.
- [32:29]
A
Yeah, that's cool. Soap. Note I know there's like, there's plaid and those. So. Soap note. I actually hadn't heard of that. That's a HIPAA compliant version where you could just record the conversations, do the summaries, notes, and it puts it in
- [32:40]
B
a soap note, like, style, which is. I don't know if you're familiar with what soap means in medical, but it's a style of charting and so puts it in there, like just perfectly. It's so good.
- [32:52]
A
Cool. Very cool. Yeah, I love that. All right, jumping to some other topics here. Anything, Anything else to share on that one? I guess.
- [33:02]
B
I don't think so. I know. I don't think so. There's so much I could, like, figure
- [33:06]
A
out how to use AI right now. And it's like everybody feels like they're behind the eight ball. I think we're all in this perpetual, like, am I missing an opportunity? I guess this is one thing I'll ask you on the AI front. It seems like there's this emerging opportunity to differentiate in certain places in the business by actually not using AI. So. Right. Like, everybody's so eager to AI ify and automate everything in their businesses that, like you said, this is a business, this is a people business. I think was your quote in our intro here. How do you make sure that you're balancing the things in your business that do require the people element? Because that'll be a point of differentiation in the relationship building versus there's a trade off here that's worth. Worth allowing AI to take over or certain places in the business where it makes sense.
- [33:49]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that it would probably depend on the business, like, what. What you really want to potentially lose a little bit of that human nature. But the other is to vet your AI. I think people would be shocked at how human AI can be and like, how emotionally aware and empathetic AI can be. Like, you could get on and play around with my AI patient care coordinator, you could send a picture of like, you and your grandma and she would respond, very sweet. Like, really, really, like, could trick you. We've had people that come in. Ours is named Claire, and they'll say, like, is Claire in? She was so sweet. So it's not robotic at all. So I think one is to like, vet your AI. But two, decide where you're okay with that because that's not. I'm not okay with AI doing a full face consultation for my patient. I'm not okay with them doing the relationship building. Like, I want to make sure I get FaceTime with my patient. Like I would never do that. And then just execute and be the injector. Right. I would want to have that people part because that's what we're trying to avoid. Commoditization, you know.
- [34:56]
A
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [34:57]
B
So it's a huge, huge thing that you still need to like maintain that level of people.
- [35:03]
A
Yeah. So it's just balancing the trade offs. Hey, right. Like where we get where we feel like the pros outweigh the cons, this is probably a good place to implement. And if we feel like that's not the case, then we keep the human element as the main.
- [35:13]
B
Yes. And then literally be selective with your AI because they're not all created equal.
- [35:17]
A
Yeah. And train the crud out of it. I think that was good advice too.
- [35:19]
B
Yes. Yes.
- [35:21]
A
Hey, practice owners and marketing directors interrupting this episode to invite you to schedule a one on one strategy call with me to discuss how we might be able to improve and level up your digital marketing efforts. So we're rated five stars on Google, we're HIPAA verified by Compliancy Group and we have a track record of taking clients from 30,000amonth to $120,000 a month and adding multi millions of dollars in additional revenue for some of our bigger multi location med spas from more effective marketing strategies. So on the free strategy call, it's really educational. I basically spend an hour going through detailed reviews of all of our best performing plays that we run for our clients. You have it to take and run with it if that's what you want to do and if you think it might be a fit to work together, then we're excited about the possibility to partner with you. But if you're interested in better, more effective digital marketing solutions for your med spa, visit MED Spa Magic Marketing.com that's MedSpa. Magic Marketing.com to schedule your one on one strategy call with me. I wanted to jump actually down to that marketing conversation again because you mentioned that you want people coming in expecting great, you want to get them maximally pumped. They you want them to come in expecting an exceptional result and exceptional service. How do you do that with your marketing and your forward facing brand elements? What's the thought process?
- [36:38]
B
There's. Yeah, I always say I want them to be proud that they're on the schedule. You know, wouldn't that be cool if they're just like, they'd brag to their friend, be like, I actually am on the schedule. Rise. How sick is that? You know? Well, our biggest leads come from referrals and social media. So that helps. Right. Because we can hide in a different way than just like a landing page and self credentialing. I think when people get to know who you are or like you're, you know, you're more of a person to them and they get to see you execute on people they're familiar with. We, we do a lot of ambassador marketing. Something that I think is really unique to our practice is that are heavily built on influencer ambassador marketing and that's huge for us because they get a glimpse of what it's like to be a patient here and that builds excitement that they also want to be that versus like oh I see they offer Botox and they're geographically close to me and they have an intro patient deal. Sweet. Let's see how it goes versus I see how it goes and I can't wait to be that person, you know.
- [37:36]
A
Yeah. I love that we talked a lot the last six months about building brand building magnetism and I think that's a great way to do that. Any advice on how to find and partner with the right people?
- [37:50]
B
That is. It's a hard jumping point. I feel like once you get a couple in then they will help you because they typically at least Utah it's an interesting influencer network where they all know more people and they get their friends and then you're. Your program just kind of grows from there. But I think it's smart to find industry adjacent influencers like say you have a hair salon that you see influencers going to and promoting that's similar to your brand that would be a good person to reach out to or you see that they maybe have the same values as you. Like maybe it's a fitness influencer and they're into wellness and that's kind of what you're promoting and just finding alignment. There's. When I first started the program I was looking for anyone who was willing to say my name and now it's anyone who's in alignment because the last thing you want is to give control to some random person on online to basically say what your business is like and also to have the wrong person maybe like it's not your. I always say like your influencer should look like your ideal client avatar. Like if that person doesn't look like your dream client then don't do it. I don't care how many followers they have. So starting with a couple of those, like I always challenge people like you know, you know a couple people. Everyone's on social media and just reach out to them and be bold.
- [39:06]
A
Are these people with huge followings, are they people with local followings? Like, how do you make sure you're not just finding the person with the biggest follower count that has no local poll where you actually work and operate?
- [39:17]
B
Yeah, well, that's really tricky. Some of our best, you know, like maybe we get the most ROI from are our micro influencers with less than 10,000 because they're all very local and trusted. First we have people who have over a million that maybe we don't see as much movement from because one, it's across the country. Yeah, all across the world even.
- [39:35]
A
Exactly.
- [39:36]
B
And so, yeah, maybe they only have as many local people as the person with 10,000. So it's less about the followers, more about alignment. And then I think even more important than that is because it's really hard to know. Maybe it's because I'm not a social media expert on that side to know how to vet an account. Like I go look and see the engagement. If they got a hundred thousand followers and they have like two likes, then I just know this is like not for me. Yeah, I need someone who's got engagement, but the other thing is I want somebody who wants a long term relationship with me. We don't do like, we don't do like, hey, do you want to come and do trade for lip filler? No, no. They become a client of ours through and through and I want them to be coming in at least four times a year because you're not going to get trust in marketing and social media by popping up on someone's story one time. It looks like they got paid to be there.
- [40:21]
A
Yep.
- [40:22]
B
So you have to be so intentional. Find someone who's in alignment with you, someone who wants long, you know, relationship with you and make sure that they're continuing to talk about you. So they're like, oh, actually, maybe she actually does like Tracy's work and she didn't just take the freebie. Yeah, I think that's more important than anything else because if nothing else, if nothing else, you got your own content. Like if their posts and their, you know, willingness to share before and afters and video content, you grabbed nothing from their audience. You just got a ton of content for your own social media and for your own website. So we try to keep that in mind. Like if we're in alignment with them and they want long term and things are going well and they're good people, we try to be less focused on those numbers and More focused on like, does this represent our brand the way we want and let it do its thing.
- [41:11]
A
Yeah, I love that, how important the depth of it the relationship is though, because it needs to be believable. Like I like, hey, this person actually does like Tracy and her team. They go there and they're pumped to be there. Not they did a one off brand deal.
- [41:23]
B
People can tell that we're all smart by now.
- [41:26]
A
Yeah, exactly.
- [41:26]
B
We know. And you can't be having spa hoppers either. We have them sign an exclusivity clause. Not everyone follows it, but I'm like, it totally discredits this entirely. It makes it seem like you got paid to be here. So if you're not going to be consistent and stay with us, you're going to be bouncing around like just pay for your treatment. Let's not.
- [41:45]
A
Yeah, I know we're almost out of time, so I had a few more, but I'll whittle it down to one and hopefully we'll do another episode sometime. And that last question is in an increasingly competitive landscape, what I've seen in most places through the country, and I told you in our preliminary talk that I don't think this is represented in my opinion in any of the industry research that I've seen. But on the ground conversations I have with practice owners, this seems to be true. You have a lot of places where population has not grown nearly as much as competition and so it feels like everybody's fighting for their slice of the pie and there's more people fighting for the slice and the pizza didn't get that much bigger. How do you think about pricing, strategy and competition? And do you feel like that's true where you are in Utah as well?
- [42:34]
B
I do feel like it's true. I saw some study recently that said in Salt Lake city, within a five mile radius, there's 30 plus options for people to choose from. So when I think about people Googling Botox near me, I'm like, okay, that's a lot. You know there's a lot because five miles, it's not that far. You know, we have people traveling hours. So yes, I do think that is true. As far as pricing, I will go back to what I always go back to, which is it aligned with my brand, my mission and my commitments. And our from the get go, our dedication to our marketing pillar has always been to not be a discount shop. You won't see us rotating specials every month or every quarter. You don't see us running like last minute flash promos. We really limit the amount we discount. Because I think the moment you discount a service is when you say it's not that valuable. We will do value add promos and try to get people in that way, you know, but we are not cost wise, like price wise, the most competitive in our area.
- [43:40]
A
Yeah, that's the goal. Right. We don't, that's. You don't want to be in that game.
- [43:44]
B
Yes. So I just refuse to be part of that. And I've had people tell me like, in this economy you just have to. I'm like, no, you don't. Because what I want is long term relationships. I want retention. I want my lifetime value of my client to be as high as possible. And if I'm first of all cutting my margins down by discounting it and then discounting my brand and making it seem like we're not that valuable, what am I also doing for the future? Is that lead coming back or are they going to go find the next good deal? And if the lead does come back, are they ever coming back and investing in something that's going to make a difference for my business as far as growth goes. And so as hard as it gets, you know, when there's down times, I think you, I think the best businesses are the ones who hold strong to whatever their brand and their messaging is and cut out the noise of this competition and saturation because there will never be another rise. And we're confident in that. You know, and our. We. You know how they say community over competition?
- [44:41]
A
Yeah.
- [44:42]
B
I'm like, no, no, no. I think community and competition like this is business. I'm a very competitive person.
- [44:50]
A
I feel like when people say that sometimes they're not facing reality. If the business dynamic, it's a little blind. I've always thought that too.
- [44:55]
B
I'm like, you'll be just as happy as if I get the lead than you get the lead. You're just as happy. No, but community, like networking and all of that's very important to me. I have a great community of injectors and great camaraderie. Like, I just love being a, you know, girls girl or, or you know, just a good colleague. But that all doesn't mean that I'm not like actually innovating every second trying to figure out how to like position my business in a way that's going to gain the most traction. And so I think we tend to, in this, at least what I've heard, sitting at conferences, at tables with people, we tend to allow times like this where it's feel saturated. And maybe the economy is down and the filler sales are down and people are afraid of filler. Whatever it is that we want to, like, soothe ourselves and say, like, it's everyone, everyone's going through this all the same. We have the same struggles, and we just have to ride this out and know and don't beat ourselves up and. And, you know, sit this one out. And I am like, oh, hell no. This is the time where you're like, laser focused. You're executing harder than you ever have. Your innovation needs to be like, two steps ahead, and then it doesn't matter. Right. Because there's just. You're not in competition with anyone because you've got like, such streamlined laser focus on success that, like, that is irrelevant, in my opinion, how the market is. I know that sounds crazy, but that's how I see it.
- [46:15]
A
I think it's the right mindset to have and completely true. It's about doubling down, dotting your eyes and crossing your T's and being as dialed in as you can be. Those things go hand in hand. It means you're serving your clients better when you're focused on those sorts of things. So it sounds like from like a client acquisition perspective and just a growth, you've really doubled down on brand. It's. I want before people go to Google and they perform that search and they have to shop through 50 providers to figure out where they want to go. Yeah, we want to win that business too, but I want to maximize the chances. They already know me, they already like me, they already trust me. So they don't even go to Google to perform that search in the first place. And I love that. Doubling down on brand and building magnetism and momentum. It's not the thing that works overnight, but it's the thing that allows you to set yourself up so that every day there's new people scheduling with you that have been. You've been on their radar for nine months. They've been following you, and they're excited to schedule that appointment.
- [47:07]
B
Yes, yes. And. And circling back to all of it, it leads to happier providers. You have better culture because they have ideal patients in their chair.
- [47:14]
A
Yep.
- [47:14]
B
So they have a happier day. You know, and I think about that too. And, and maybe the growth of our providers may be slower because they don't have a bunch of quantity of new patients because we're not just targeting all these people who want $8 per unit, but the quality of the brand we're growing and the people that they're serving and the relationships we get to build. Like, we're here all week, you know?
- [47:34]
A
Yeah.
- [47:35]
B
Like, I want to have a good time. I want to feel like when I look at my schedule as a provider that I'm like, oh my God, all my favorite clients are coming in today. And then the next day comes, I'm like, all my favorite clients are coming in today. Like, I want that for my providers as well.
- [47:47]
A
Yeah, that's a big piece of this. I know. Because we've got clients that run the strategy of running the discount based offers. And I'm not going to lie and say they don't work to get butts and seats. And there's not even an adequate number of patients retained. Like the math can work. But this is not just a math conversation because one of the things that pops up when you do run that strategy is provider frustration. Like, I'm dealing with these people that were just coming in for a deal and they're haggling me. And that erodes the entire thing that you tried to build, which is a brand and a team and a culture that's excited to be at work. And so that's absolutely consideration too. And I love that focus trace. Any last words or thoughts on those last items?
- [48:27]
B
I don't think so.
- [48:28]
A
Well, this was awesome. Thank you so much. That's great for being on the show. I know I've got like nine more questions I could probably ask Justin in this episode, so hopefully we'll do it again. But can you let everyone know where they can find you all the stuff, the book, everything that you're up to so we can put those in the show notes?
- [48:41]
B
Yeah, for sure. So Instagram's the quickest, easiest way to get access to all of it. It's Tracy Andreasen, Underscore np I do trainings and speaking events and I've authored a couple books made specifically for people in this industry. One is a interactive coloring textbook for anatomy for injectors called Color Me Injected. And then an injector Playbook and a couple other exciting projects rolling out soon. A beginner injectables course, all of that. The easiest way to get there is through the link tree that's on my Instagram or go to injectorsguide.com Amazing.
- [49:14]
A
Well, Tracy, thank you so much for being on the show. We look forward to having you on again. Thanks for your time.
- [49:18]
B
Thank you so much.
- [49:21]
A
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.