Lauren Nettles (4:43)

Awesome. I love that.

Renata Roddy (4:44)

That was very long for.

Ricky Shockley (4:46)

That's great. So you're basically presenting the treatment option. You're not just rubber stamping. They, they came in for like Botox injections. You're saying, okay, why? And then what is the treatment plan we're recommending based on that concern?

Renata Roddy (4:59)

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So we know, like, we know that they booked for Botox. We know that they, we already know they want Botox naturally. One of those dropdown menus most likely is going to say elevens, crow's feet, forehead line, something like that. But inevitably they usually will typically check off a few other things like sunspots or like dry skin. So that's where, you know, we're able to make one other service recommendation. Say, for example, facials. I'm going to recommend that you see my esthetician Grace, who's, you know, and then you could you credential your esthetician. We also do have in our office, each provider has their own provider power. So that when we are talking about, you know, referring them to see my esthetician Grace, I'm not going to just say, oh, yeah, you see Grace, she's awesome. She's amazing. You'll love her. You're going to say, oh, you're going to see Grace. We call her the problem solver in our office because she quickly comes up with solutions and she's going to help fix this problem for you that you're really unhappy with. So it kind of gives them. And then we have her picture there as well so they can see who are, what she looks like, you know, what she's good at, so that you feel connected and more comfortable rather than like, oh, yeah, you'll love her. Just take our word for it.

Lauren Nettles (6:10)

Yeah, I love that.

Laura Smuts (6:12)

Can you give us a little bit.

Lauren Nettles (6:13)

More insight on this flip book and kind of what's included in that flipbook for when you're, you know, educating on other different types of treatments that they might not already know about?

Renata Roddy (6:21)

Yeah, so it's like really simple. So the first page is literally, it's just the title, Beauty Blueprint. Page two. We then have the, those four pillars that I talked about. Laser skincare, retail and injectables. And it's. It kind of is, you know, four boxes and then it all kind of ties together with one centralized circle. And then page three is like our team, their names, their provider power. And then we take it one step further. And the last page is actually a page on our beauty bank. So that's our version of a membership. We do it more like a bank style. So that's literally every single page that it consists of. So we utilize that in the consultation to guide our pro, that consultation process with the patient.

Laura Smuts (7:12)

Cool.

Lauren Nettles (7:13)

I really love that idea too of like, and educating them on your team right up front too, before anything else, because we have a lot of people where they'll come in and they build that relationship with the injector or the person that they're working with. Clearly as the number one relationship they're going to have, but automatically building rapport across the practice that we believe in every single one of our providers and they all have this great superpower. Like we believe we make this great team that builds relationship to the brand then too, not just to you as a provider, which can really help with stickiness too, in terms of retention, which we love.

Renata Roddy (7:44)

Yeah, absolutely. You know, ideally you really want to get the patients kind of loyal to the brand and the practice, not necessarily the provider. So this is a kind of simple way to introduce that patient to your team. You're making clinical recommendations on something that they mentioned that bothers them and so you're not overwhelming the patient by here's 30 different services that we offer. You're not going to feel salesy because we're providers, we're not sales women or men. So you're just taking the time to educate them on treatments that are going to help resolve what it is that they checked off that bothers them.

Lauren Nettles (8:22)

That's awesome.

Ricky Shockley (8:23)

I, I think that's a really cool idea too because it standardizes your cross sells and upsells. So like when you're in there talking about it doesn't feel like you're just pulled it out of thin air that you're recommending this, this, this, it's like, no, we've thought about this so much that we handed you a document where this is already printed out. Like, I think it sets them up for the expectation that this is what the holistic treatment option based on the concern area available. I think that's a really cool way to do it. I also think when we talk about earning the trust of our clients and our prospects, how professional and polished and cool does it look that you've been that thoughtful to have that material for them upfront and you're not just winging it during that process. I think that's really cool. Really unique in our experience too. I love that.

Renata Roddy (9:06)

Yeah, it just kind of ties everything together and it sort of like creates a methodology, a very kind of black and white approach. The other thing that it does is it ensures that every provider is doing the consultation basically the same way. So no matter who they see there, it creates that consistency throughout your team so people aren't all over the place. And we designed it in such a fashion where the beauty blueprint, when you're reviewing it, it really is a, we've timed it, it should really only take you about 10 minutes. So if you have that 30 minute window with that patient, you're Kind of chatting things over with them with via the beauty blueprint for about 10 minutes. This allows 20 minutes because you're booked for 30. You now have 20 minutes to answer any and all questions. You know, did they want to do that Botox treatment today? Awesome. Let's inject you. You know, we. It gives you time to kind of be more efficient as well, so.

Lauren Nettles (10:04)

Absolutely. I guess another thing too with that Renata is you have a perfect five star rating. So you have tons of awesome reviews of people talking about how much they love Roddy Med Spot as well as you specifically. So what do you feel like you do too? That builds that aspect of they love it here, they want to be with you. Is it relationship based? Do you learn more about them outside of just the aesthetic world or how does that relationship building look like for you too?

Renata Roddy (10:29)

Yeah, it's definitely, I would say, relationship based. I mean, even patients that I've been treating for like three, four, five years, you know, I don't need 30 minutes to do their Botox. I can inject them 10, 15 minutes in and out the door, no problem. However, you know, when they come in, I mean, you know, they want to talk to me about their kids. They want to talk to me about like their. The vacation that they have coming up. You know, maybe they're going through a divorce. I mean, you're kind of like a therapist too, in a way. So, you know, there's many hats we wear as provider. We were not just injecting where we're therapists, we're girlfriends. There's all kinds of hats. So, you know, every patient has at least 30 minutes with me, even if you've been seeing me for four or five years and I probably remember your dosing without even looking at your chart. But it's just creates that relationship, that rapport with that patient. And I really think that establishes a lot of trust too. So that helps in retention significantly.

Lauren Nettles (11:26)

Absolutely. So on the front side of that, I guess when a new patient comes in, how do you deal with the somebody who looks like, I just want to come in, I want to get that promo and I want to be out of here. How do you build that to be a longer, more in depth appointment that turns into a cross sell or an upsell?

Renata Roddy (11:44)

Yeah, I think, I mean, of course, you know, back to the beauty blueprint. We're always going to be utilizing that beauty blueprint. I think one of the good things, one of the awesome things rather about the beauty blueprint, that is that really establishes you as a provider. And because one of the things is like you got to credential yourself too. So part of my consultation, I would say something like, you know, in my seven years of experience in doing this, I have seen A, B and C, I recommend A, B and C. So you credential yourself and your level of expertise and, and that kind of gives that patient that's new to the practice confidence and who's about to inject them. So I think that, just kind of making sure that you're confident in what you're recommending. And of course this comes with time. So if you're a newer provider, maybe you've been doing this for one or two years, two years. You know, it's going to look different than someone that's been doing it for like say 10 years. But that's just something that does come with time. But establishing sort of that kind of like here, here are my, what my intentions are in clinical recommendations from the get go, I think is very helpful.

Lauren Nettles (12:53)

I love that. Awesome. I think that pretty much covers the consult process. Ricky, do you have anything else you want to add in terms of questions for consultations?

Ricky Shockley (13:00)

No, I don't think so. That was awesome. Thank you, Renata. Thanks for sharing.

Renata Roddy (13:03)

You know, the last, the last thing I do want to say because I think actually don't know if you asked me this, but this is one of the, this is one of the things that we do too is in creating that treatment plan, I usually will do like a one year treatment plan with the patient and I have treatment plan, I call it a card. It's really, it's, it's a full size paper. Basically they take it home, I take a picture of it, I put it on their chart. That way when they come in, hey, we planned for Botox. The next thing that we talked about was doing your filler that's coming up. We should book you for that. So I think creating a treatment plan for them that gives them like a 12 month plan plan that's going to also ensure retention, that also helps with your relationship, it creates stickiness as you said, because they're going to be seeing other providers in your practice and not just you. And I like the phys, like handing them something physical, not just an email. I mean think about how many. Every day I wake up I've got probably 40 emails from like websites I shop from and all that. So you want to give them a piece of paper, as old school as that is, but definitely creating that treatment plan. And I, I do like 12 months. Some people will do six months. But I like that 12 month plan so that I'm telling them, like, hey, we're in this together for the long haul.

Lauren Nettles (14:22)

I love that. I think that's a great way to kind of instill that trust too in that relationship. Jumping into rebookings and retention strategies. So when you are rebooking somebody or when that appointment finishes, as soon as you finish that treatment, how does that rebooking process look like for you? Are you doing a walk to the desk and pass them off? Are you rebooking in the chair? What does that look like for you? And ensuring that next appointment is on the calendar.

Renata Roddy (14:47)

Yeah, so we have done. Every practice does this differently. And I used to have patients go to the desk and rebook their appointments. Well, let me tell you, our pre booking rates sucked. So I was like, this is nuts. Like, why are numbers terrible? So we decided to make a change and pre book them in the room. Rather than having our front desk pre booked them. We switched from having the provider themselves pre book their patient. So my patients don't walk out of my door until they have another appointment on my calendar. Now sometimes they're already getting up from my treatment tray, they're grabbing their purse and I'm over here like, hey, do you like Wednesdays? How about the same time and you know, 12 weeks? So as I'm walking, I'm walking to the door with them with my phone, trying to get a date and time. Sometimes I stand in front of the door to make a point, like, hey, wait one second, we got to book your appointment. So however it is that you want to do it. But the key is that I have found is to make it part of your casual conversation. Don't make it a big deal. Just, do you like Wednesdays? Maria? I, you know, you're going to be due here in 12 weeks. Is that a good day for you? Did you want to switch to a Monday? Very simple. I just make it part of the conversation, very casual, so they, you don't want them to feel pressured either. But you know, at the end of the day, it really comes down to like educating your patient. Like you're going to have wrinkles come back in 12 weeks and you're not going to like it. Why don't we get something on the calendar that. It's on your calendar. It's on my calendar. And I kind of even joke. I'll say, hey, we're kind of like the dentist around here. We all, we all pre book our patients. So everyone leaves with an appointment. So I think just kind of educating them, like, why are we pre booking you? One you're going to forget, plain and simple. You're not going to remember to call us in three months? I'm not going to remember to call you in three months. So let's get you on the calendar. And then I always. What I think what makes them feel better is like, you're going to get an email reminder the week before your appointment. If you need to change it, just give us a call. We'll pick a different date and time and then that automatically makes them feel comfortable.

Lauren Nettles (16:55)

Yeah, I think tying that into the dentist or something like that is a really good point and a good comparison.

Renata Roddy (17:01)

I always say that it's like my little mom joke or whatever and they laugh and they look at the appointment.

Lauren Nettles (17:06)

I love it. I mean, we always joke in office. We're like, hey, I feel like scheduling a time break in my day to be out of office to get Botox is kind of wrong. Like, it's not really medical, but it kind of is. Like, can I do that? So I almost think that might be a perception. And like, tying it back to that is, hey, this is part of it. This is the schedule. This is when I'm going to see you next. Let's get you on. I think that's a great point and I love that. I love that little comparison.

Ricky Shockley (17:29)

I say it every great icebreaker.

Renata Roddy (17:31)

The people that I've. Yeah. And they laugh. And like, the people that have been seeing me for a long time, they already know we're going to put something on the calendar. Very few, very rarely do I have people say, I got to look at my schedule. I'll give you a call. Like, yes, that does happen. I'm not going to say it doesn't. But it's few. It's few and far in between.

Ricky Shockley (17:53)

That's. So that's a very common theme we've heard too, is the difference in result between handing it off to your front office and the provider doing the rebooking. Like, that's a very common theme. And I think people that don't do that, that they're like, what do you mean? That that can't make that much of a difference. Like, if they want to rebook, they're going to rebook. Why does that can't make that much of a difference. Do you have any idea, like, why that's happening or any feel as to why that's happening? Because that does seem like a very common thread, but maybe to some, like an odd disconnect that it would matter that much.

Renata Roddy (18:24)

Yeah. I think it's like a white coat syndrome. Not that I wear my white lab coat in the office or anything, but it's sort of like. Not that they're not. I guess. Why cope? That's not the best explanation. Because that's like when a patient is afraid of you.

Ricky Shockley (18:36)

So what it is, the blood pressure monitor. Yeah.

Renata Roddy (18:38)

Your blood pressure spikes. Yeah.

Lauren Nettles (18:40)

No.

Renata Roddy (18:41)

You know what I think? Honestly, I just think patients, like, they just like, listen. You know, like, they listen to the doctor, they listen to the nurse. They want to do what you recommend to them. And sometimes as much as your front desk may be fabulous, potentially, it's just not translating the same as when the provider is recommending that visit in 12 weeks. So I think there's like some sort of communication or miscommunication somewhere between front desk and provider. I think that's why there's such a huge difference. I just think the way that providers are speaking to their patients, it's just translating better. They're kind of. Because think about it. We are taking a few minutes to educate them why they need that appointment in 12 weeks. Front desk. I mean, they should be. But are they. Because my numbers were not telling me, which is why we made the change. So I, I just think there's that trust. I think there's. There's something about, clinically speaking, how that recommendation is being made. I think there's like that, that relationship, that connection with the. Between provider and patient that, like, entire, like, they're like, okay, let's do this.

Lauren Nettles (19:51)

I also think it's too easy to say no at a front desk sometimes. Like, you're already kind of out the door. It's. No, check my calendar. I'll get back to you. Thanks. And then there's no really pushback in the sense of a front desk. At least from what I've seen. It's more. Yeah, okay, sounds great. We'll see you in the next one.

Renata Roddy (20:04)

But absolutely.

Lauren Nettles (20:06)

In the room, you're still there. You're still focused and sitting. You can open your calendar, you can make that plan. It still feels like a part of the appointment.

Renata Roddy (20:12)

Of the appointment. I 100 agree. 100 agree with that.

Ricky Shockley (20:17)

Yeah. It's almost like they've already mentally checked out. Once they've walked out of the room and they're at the front desk, they're already thinking about getting the iced coffee on the way home or whatever.

Renata Roddy (20:23)

Totally. I could not agree more. Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (20:26)

Yeah. And it's like we always talk about setting the default if the default is that they have an appointment, you're going to have more people coming for the appointment than if the default is they don't have the appointment. And now the friction is that they have to go from not having an appointment to remembering to schedule an appointment. And you're just introducing variables and so many. Yeah, yeah, yep.

Lauren Nettles (20:46)

Definitely.

Ricky Shockley (20:47)

Yeah.

Renata Roddy (20:48)

You want to take advantage while they're in your office so much hard. Once they're gone, they're gone. Who know? You know, are they going to pick up the phone? Are they going to text you back? Are they going to email you back?

Lauren Nettles (20:56)

Like, right. So do you have any common trends that you've seen kind of in office, from provider to provider that makes or breaks one in terms of their rebooking? Have you seen. Oh, yeah, that. That's really something we worked on with her because her rebooking rate wasn't that great and mine was because I did this. Is there something specific you can pinpoint things to in sense?

Renata Roddy (21:17)

Yeah. So typically, if a provider, and I've had to review this with all of them, if a provider is like, do you want to book a fa? Do you want to book another facial in six weeks? They're like, no. Or they're like, yeah. I mean, it's yes or no. Those are the only two options. So avoiding those yes or no questions, you're the provider. You know what they need. Half the times they don't know it. More often than not, they don't know what they need and when they need it. They're looking to you to make that recommendation as the professional. So the way that you phrase it would be, Susie, you're due for a facial in six weeks. I recommend a signature Hydrafacial. Did you want to book a Monday or a Wednesday? Those are the two days that I'm here. And then it's up to them to be like, oh, I want a Wednesday or I want a Monday, or I'll give you a call. I don't know yet. Right, so you're avoiding that yes or no question. So you, you're telling them what they need and when and then telling them some available days, is Monday or better, you know, Monday or Friday better for you? So avoid the did you want to book another facial in six weeks? They're gonna be like, no. Or they're although say yes. You know, but that yes or no answers or questions change the not recommended.

Ricky Shockley (22:40)

Yeah. Back to the default. It's like, not. The default is not if the default is when and put the onus on Them to turn it into an if. Like they have to, they have to change the course of the conversation to. That's where you're introducing the friction now, to just completely leave the part of the conversation where you're talking about when you're going to reschedule as opposed to the if. It's like you're giving them an easy out. So it's just exactly. The subtle framing in the language, I think surprisingly makes a way bigger difference than most people would think.

Renata Roddy (23:07)

It really does. And it's so bizarre, but it truly does. Like the language, the word choices are that critical.

Lauren Nettles (23:19)

Awesome. Is there anything else that you can think of, provider wise, where you've seen it makes or breaks that number for you all?

Renata Roddy (23:29)

I mean in terms of like rebooking, that's definitely the number one thing I've noticed like consistently across like all providers do.

Ricky Shockley (23:39)

The other thing that I think has been a common theme is that relationship component. And I know to some people it just comes natural. They're good talkers, they just instantly develop a rapport with the client. Do you have any advice on managing team members that maybe are really good at the technical part of their job, but there may be average with the people skills. Like, are there any prompts or any training you give injectors or estheticians to help them get better at the relational component or just any advice or observation in general?

Renata Roddy (24:08)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (24:08)

So.

Renata Roddy (24:11)

One of the trainings we did was like we did this quick training on the six steps of communication and the like part of like step one is the whole, the whole section of that step one is like establishing that rapport. And within that step one, how you establish rapport is the small talk, you know, like, how do you have kids? Like, how's work going? So I think kind of getting to know them a little better in asking those questions is helpful. And for me, like I'm organically very good at that in the room. But the moment they leave, I've forgotten probably 80% of what they said. Like, I'm just not good at like remembering off the top of my head. So what I do is, and I've told my providers this, I'm like, hey, like in your note when you write that Susie Smith came in for a signature hydrafacial at the top, you know, make a little note that says has two dogs and a cat, three kids, like, whatever. So when they come back in you can be like, oh, how are dogs doing? Or like the last week I had a patient, her dog passed away last. So when she came In I'm like, how are you doing since your dog passed? You know, like, how's everything at home so that you have that point of connection and you're not, they're not just a transaction. I mean, I think good providers like you do, you genuinely do end up caring for these people, you know, in these stories that they share with you. But to sort of initiate that, like you said, Ricky, like if you're just not as comfortable, organically good at that, or maybe you're a little bit more shy or whatever the case may be. I think just opening the floor for communication and asking, I mean, you kind of have to put yourself out there, right? You have to ask those questions. But making little notes on their profile so that you can talk about it next time they come in really helps.

Lauren Nettles (25:56)

I think that's a great little tidbit. It sounds like it's an easy step or something people would think of, but you wouldn't realize the amount of people that don't do that or don't remember anything. And you can feel that as being somebody who goes and gets those appointments. You're like, didn't I just see you? Do you not remember that? And it's hard because you see so many people during the day, but that really does impact. Hey, she checked in on me last time I came back. I, I like her. Like, I want to keep that relationship going and I think that's really special.

Renata Roddy (26:22)

Yeah, absolutely. And then the other thing that really helps too is just ensuring that if they're new, that you and you start a new plan with them, you schedule a follow up. I can't tell you the amount of patients that looked at that. Look at me shocked. Like, oh my go. You do follow ups. And I'm like, yeah, I want to make sure your results are perfect. In two weeks you're new. After that you don't have to see me. But for the first appointment, yeah, I want to check in on you in two weeks. So I peop that it's very simple. It takes, it just takes some time out of your calendar day. But it goes well beyond like, oh my God, I just spent 20 minutes for a follow up for. No, it is for a reason. You're establishing that rapport. You're gaining their trust. And so many people have shared that with me that like a lot of, you know, they're shocked that I do it because the places they've been before don't.

Lauren Nettles (27:05)

That's awesome.

Ricky Shockley (27:06)

Yeah, I think it does. Like, the more, the, the more interactions you have under your belt, the tighter the relationship gets. So I do like the idea of like, you have the follow up now I've got two appointments under my belt, two times that I've met and talked to this person. Inherently, they're more likely to come back statistically for that third appointment, which is the true second visit. So, yeah, I think that's, that's great advice too.

Lauren Nettles (27:28)

Absolutely. Well, those are super insightful answers and we're really, really happy to have you. Renata, is there anything else that you wanted to add in Ricky or any final questions that you had?

Ricky Shockley (27:38)

No. That was amazing. Thank you so much. Renata. Thank you for sharing. We appreciate your time.

Renata Roddy (27:41)

Of course. Thank you for having me.

Ricky Shockley (27:43)

This episode is brought to you by MedSpa Magic Marketing, my agency. We help med spas and aesthetics practices grow with more effective marketing strategies. And I know that's a vague, vague phrase, right? That's a vague claim. So I have an offer for you. I offer this to any new prospects if you're interested in exploring any of them. Another marketing option, a new agency, or just getting into Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads for the first time. I'd love to show you why we're different, what we're doing for clients. And we can do that via a one and a half hour planning session where I'll outline a specific marketing plan and I'll give you all of the blueprints that we would implement if we were to do business together. Now, you can take that, use that on your own, hire someone else to help you execute it or work with us. We really don't hold anything back on that strategy call. And I think you'll have a lot of confidence in how you manage your marketing investment moving forward, understanding some of the nuances that can help you implement more effective marketing strategies for your business. So if you want to do that, you can go to medspamagicmarketing.com Next up on the roundtable, we're excited to be joined by Laura Smuts. Laura is the founder of Bold Confidence Aesthetics in San Diego, California. She specializes in regenerative aesthetics, an approach that enhances youthful structure and function using the body's own innate systems for natural repair and healing. Bold Confidence is also rated five stars on Google. You can learn more about Laura and bold confidence@boldconfidentyou.com all right, well, Laura, we're.

Lauren Nettles (29:04)

So excited to have you today and to jump into some of these questions. So we're going to cover things about consultations and best practices there, as well as actual rebooking and retention strategies kind of at the end of appointments or what you're doing during them to get there. So first question kind of to kick us off is the consult process. Can you give us a little overview of what your consult process looks like? Whether that be a new patient from an ad, new patient in general, how long do you block it for? What do you educate in it? Basically an overview of what that looks like for you.

Laura Smuts (29:36)

Yeah. So I truly believe the consult starts with the first phone call in which you are being interviewed from the very first phone call. So I have a front desk person that I have trained up down, left and right, but I also will pop on phone calls and I tell her that I'm not like trying to do your job, but I when I have downtime or if I'm in between patients and I can pick up the phone, then she actually lets me pick up the phone. And so I'm able to communicate with them and tell them things so they can get to know me before they even come in. Especially if it's a new patient, because I'm able to see the caller id. But even follow up patients, if they have problems and they want to talk to me, I time block my schedule. So I have about 20 minutes in between every other patient. So every hour I have about 20 minutes that if a patient wants to talk to me, then they can, then I can call them. They know that I have that time block. They know that it's limited, but they can ask me the questions. But then when they come in the door. I've been in practices where a patient care consultant does consult, and then I've been in practices where the provider provides the consults. And I really like when the provider provides the consults because you start developing that rapport. And I also, about three years ago, I started asking patients what they loved about themselves. And I just did it. Because one day it dawned on me. It's like, why do I just ask people, what are you here for? What do you hate about yourself? And so I started asking him, what are two things that you like about yourself? And it's fascinating because men like Ricky, he could say 500 things that he likes about himself. But women have a hard time saying two things that they like about themselves. One time I had one woman, she said she liked her hair and her earrings. I was like, your earrings don't belong to you and your hair is not on your face. So if people have a hard time saying what they like about themselves, I then will sit in silence. But if they still can't. Then I will actually answer for them. And the reason is because I want them to know that other people do see beauty in them. And so I feel like from the very start it develops a place in which it is non judgmental. They can really answer questions and they know that I appreciate their looks. And then I just ask them open ended. As soon as I ask them, what are two things you like about yourself? I just say, what are we here to talk about? I don't, I don't ask specifically. Even if they're there for Botox, I don't say, okay, well what do you want from Botox? I say, what are we here to talk about? And then they start just listing the list of issues that they have. And then I say, okay, well what's the most important? What are we here to talk about? And depending on the type of patient and how open she is, I then dive further into talking about, okay, well this is the issue, but this is what we can do to fix this issue. And this issue. Like for instance, yesterday I had a patient, she was worried about her upper lip lines, but then she was also worried about her radial lines and she was also worried about volume loss because she was 53 and she was really feeling it. So I started talking about, okay, well if you're just worried about the upper lip, we can do prf. We could do other options like skin be, but if you want to kind of do like a blanket thing, then let's come up with a bigger package. So we actually she decided to go with that bigger package and I sold her an $8,000 package yesterday because we decided that that was the best option because it took care of everything. But if she was here for Botox, if I had just talked about Botox, I never would have even known that the other things bothered her. So I like that from the very beginning, just asking her what you like and then asking her what her issues are and then kind of going where the conversation goes.

Lauren Nettles (33:21)

I love that. So leaving it kind of open ended and letting them come up with what they want first before you jump in. And I also really like the what do you love about yourself too? Because that is like, first of all, it's just such a cool different angle that I feel like nobody does, literally nobody. I've never been to a place that has done that. I've never heard of a client of ours that does that. I think that's so awesome. And I think that plays into the building of the rapport and the trust and everything there as well. How long do you typically block for a console? So it sounds like yours is pretty in depth process. So how long do you block for new patients for a consult?

Laura Smuts (33:57)

The patient that I said yesterday, that I sold that package to yesterday, she said, I've never had such a complex consult. And I block even if you're coming in for Botox, I block an hour for that first pay for that first appointment. I don't always use that first hour. And I tell patients up front, if you're in a hurry and you have to get out in 30 minutes, then you have to get out in 30 minutes. But you're still blocked on my side for an hour because that's how much it means to me. I make every patient feel like a VIP because every patient is a vip. But I'm also very cognizant of time. I'm constantly, I don't check my watch all the time, but I am checking my watch without checking my watch because the next patient that comes is the next VIP patient. And so I also don't want patients to have to wait. So sometimes we have to come up with a plan and then do it at a later time. I don't love the idea of doing that all the time, but sometimes it has to happen at just say, hey, you're VIP right now, but the next patient is vip. But long story short, every patient, the first time you see me, you get an hour block. And then if you're coming back for Botox, you get a 30 minute block. And even if we're only doing Botox, I'm sitting there, I'm talking to you about your family, I'm talking to you about your daughter, I'm talking to you about your pet, or the renovation that you're about to have because it builds rapport and it also allows time for her to say, you know, like, I was really thinking about my temples. What do you think about this? Because then we can start talking about treatments. Not just life, but treatments as well. And then every filler patient gets an hour regardless. And the reason is because the same thing, I don't want patients to feel like I'm rushing with their filler. I want them to know that I'm taking their time and I'm really looking and analyzing and making them get the best results out of what, whatever their budget is.

Ricky Shockley (35:49)

I, I love that too. And I think what sometimes practices are so concerned with like efficiency that they're like 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes. And they're concerned with the financial implications for that but here's the reality. If you have a new patient coming through the door and they feel like you rushed them out and didn't give them the time to adequately like get to know them and listen to their needs, you're not going to retain the client. So when you talk about the lifetime value of a client, the impact you have on the lifetime of value of a client by actually taking your time with that person upfront is substantial. So like, I think not being short sighted with the way that you implement your consult process is probably really important. I love that you do that. I think that's amazing. And then like you said, you, it also gives you the wiggle room so your appointments are still on time because you leave enough breathing space that you're not going to get backed up where somebody's coming in and waiting 45 minutes for their appointment. So it's ensuring that your appointment slots stay on time. Also, your initial visit revenue is higher as a result because the more you educate the prospect and the better relationship you develop, the more likely that person is to buy a larger package like you just experienced. If you would have just had a run of the mill speed consult, you might have just done 35 units of Botox and never seen that person again. So I, I think it's not only just good in terms of the way you treat people, but it's good business too well.

Laura Smuts (37:05)

And the other thing that I do, which could be perceived as harsh, is that I use a lot of clinical based data, which means I use the studies that Allergan have done and I use that to guide my treatment processes with patients. But I'm very upfront with that. I tell people I'm not going to under dose you. If you want to do 20 units over three areas, that's fine and that's your budget. But then I might not be the right match for you. And I draw on people's faces and I explain to them why 20 units will not be effective. So I literally, I have like a bright blue, it's somewhere here I have a bright blue pen that I literally draw on people's faces and I told them they're not going to go home with that. But it explains to them what Botox does, why we need certain units of Botox and the effect that we are wanting, that they are asking for. When I just ask them what do they want from their goals from today, why we need to use a certain amount of units. And then the other thing that I do is I always tell patients, I say I'm going to give you the best Botox of your life. I straight up tell people that. I tell people I'm telling you this because one, it holds me accountable. If I don't do it, then we will get you there. And then two, you know that with this investment, you are going to get the best Botox of your life. If you don't invest the amount that I'm asking you to invest, you won't get the best Botox of your life. But if something goes awry, like I had a patient the other day, she said one eyebrow lifted, the other one didn't. She comes in, I touch her up, it's 100 free. She will never pay for a touch up. If I recommend a certain amount of doses dose for her forehead because I'm nervous, I don't want to use too much. But she decides she wants to use six more units, that's 100 on me. So it's really a partnership that I try to form with the patients. And so my average patient uses probably around 45 to 53 units. That's the average. I definitely have patients that use a lot more than that, but I very rarely have patients that use just 20 units. And if they do, you get one area, that's it. And then if you want more areas, then we need more Botox.

Ricky Shockley (39:10)

Yeah, I love that. Not letting the client dictate the. You're like, hey, you're paying me for the result. What do you want the outcome of this to be? I'm not just going to sit here and rubber stamp and you know, like when we're running promotions or a lot of practices running promotions, you're discounting the first number of units and you don't want to just rubber stamp. Okay, I'll just, I'll just give you 20 units. No matter what you say, we'll spread it thin in three areas and call it a day. Because ultimately they're not going to be happy with the result and they're not going to come back if they're not happy with the result. And I love that they've already committed to come. They're in the chair, you're talking to them one on one, how many people? And you're just being honest with them. You're not trying to give them a sales pitch. And I think that comes through. It's, hey, this is why I'm not going to do it. This is the science behind it. These are the studies. Let me explain it. And then how many people, once you do that, are really going to go I don't care what you say, just give me the 20 units and I'm out the door. Fewer of them. You still have people that want to, but at least you're saying you're condensing it to one area. I love that. I think that's phenomenal advice.

Lauren Nettles (40:06)

Definitely.

Brooke (40:07)

I would say a lot of the.

Lauren Nettles (40:08)

Feedback we hear too, with that is if there's a new injector or somebody who's not as comfortable with that conversation as you are, Laura, then they see, oh, people are really upset after they leave here. They end up getting what they asked for. We do the 20 units just to kind of get it done with. They leave. They leave a bad review, or they want to come back and get free units because they didn't get the result that they wanted. So. So I think that's a really good point of pushing back and even making that point of, hey, I might not be the provider that you want then, because I know how the result is going to be, and science dictates that as well.

Laura Smuts (40:39)

And I would say it's also harder when you step into a position where somebody else has already left, which means that if you are filling a position in a larger med spa practice that a provider has already formed these relationships with, has already come up with the treatment plan, and then you're now seeing this patient for the first time, it is harder because the patient has been getting the 21 units of Botox spread out by three areas, and now you're kind of coming up with a different game plan. But it is also important for you to tell the patient, because I've been in that situation as well. For you to tell the patient, that was a different injector. I am a new injector. We are forming a different relationship. I understand that you were using 21 units, but were you very happy with those? Or did you kind of feel that you still had a little bit of movement, or maybe it wasn't lasting as long because the difference between 20 units and 50 units at week two is not that much of a difference. So if you use 15 units or 12 units here versus 12 versus 20 units at two weeks, you're going to have the same kind of restriction, but you're going to Notice that at eight weeks, you have a lot more movement with 12 or 15 units versus 20 units. And so talking to the patient and just, again, educating that dose does equal duration. There are studies that back that up. I tell every single Botox patient that study are the three different studies that have been said and I explain why we need to use these units and it's really to invest their. Invest and save money on their side because if they spend more money now, then they won't come back in eight weeks. There's also a high risk of becoming a non responder if you have to get multiple touches throughout the year or if you get really, really high doses, that is proven data by Allergan. So people that get multiple touches every year, every eight weeks, they come back and they get Botox. They're at higher risk that five, 10 years down the road. Botox isn't going to work. And if someone told me Botox wasn't working, I would, that would not be a great day for me.

Ricky Shockley (42:51)

Yeah, I, I also love that part of the education process because we can all have our own opinions of things.

Laura Smuts (42:56)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (42:56)

So instead of just saying why Laura thinks that you should have this many units, it's actually referencing data and a third party to kind of point to and say, hey, listen, I'm not just making this up. Here's where I'm coming up with the recommendation. And it also sounds like for the business owners that are listening to this that have maybe multiple injectors, you probably want to standardize that experience. So you don't have one injector rubber stamping the 20 units and spreading it across three areas. Because you can, you can kind of nip that in the bud early on if you have a standard in terms of how you do your consults and how you advise clients. Because then if you do have injectors turning over in your business from time to time, you're hopefully able to bring somebody on, onboard them with a standard operating procedure that, that picks up where the other person left off. So yeah.

Laura Smuts (43:39)

And then probably that first month or two, first three months, extending the time so you allow that new provider to form a deep relationship with the new patient. Because it is, it's an old patient for you, but it's a new patient for that injector. And so you're basically starting off with, okay, we need to build trust again. The trust is there, sorta, but it is a little bit dampered and you need to make sure that, that it is fully refilled. You got to refill that cup again.

Lauren Nettles (44:11)

I love that. I think that's a great insight.

Laura Smuts (44:13)

Cool.

Lauren Nettles (44:14)

Well, I think that covers a lot of the consultation questions. Did you have anything else before we jump into some rebooking questions, Ricky, that you wanted to add in?

Ricky Shockley (44:20)

No, I think rebooking and retention. Let's call the Next section.

Lauren Nettles (44:24)

All right, so jumping into some rebooking strategies. Laura, what does your rebooking process look like? So kind of across the board, we see a lot of different ways. We see some practices who take the patient to the front desk and drop them off and rebooking happens there, or lack of either in the chair directly with you before they leave the room. What does that look like for you and how do you ensure that that happens?

Laura Smuts (44:46)

The best way, I rebook in the chair immediately afterwards. I keep an iPad in the room, and the front desk is responsible for getting payments. But I rebook right then and there. And I say, okay, we're going to rebook in 14 weeks. Because according to the data, it says every 14 weeks. So let's rebook in 14 weeks. Or if. I mean, if we have like the package that I signed yesterday, I had the front desk do it, but I wrote down exactly, because it was a lot of different. One month, one month, one month. Then the complicated ones I will have the front desk do. But for the simple ones, I will rebook myself. If we're in the state and we're talking about filler and we decide we want to do filler the next, next time or in a week, then we rebook right then and there. And the reason is because I found that they will say no to the front desk. It happens all the time. They will say, ah, well, I don't have my schedule. I don't know. Well, I just say, okay, well, let's rebook in 14 weeks. And if your schedule changes, then we can alter it based off of that. But at least we know the benchmark. I just basically don't let them say no in a very polite way, but they will say no to the front desk. And the. The reason is because they've developed the rapport with me. They've developed the plan with me. If then they are then following through with that plan with someone else, the commitment level is far less. I'm the one that just threw on their face. I'm the one that just talked to them about data, not the front desk person. I love my front desk person, but she can't close like I can. And the reason is, is because I'm the one that built the rapport. She's in charge of selling product. That's her job.

Lauren Nettles (46:29)

I love that.

Laura Smuts (46:30)

I tie commissions in with products. So then she wants to sell that.

Lauren Nettles (46:36)

I love that. I think that's a great addition. I think, oh, sorry, Ricky. I think it cut out. I think we see that really across the board that the best way to do it is in your chair with you before anything else happens. In terms of getting them out the door, do you ever get pushback or feedback of, well, I want to wait and see my results and I want to see how things go before I ensure that I want that next visit or how does that go for you?

Laura Smuts (47:00)

Sometimes I do, I. If I do, then I say, okay, perfect, let's schedule you for a two week follow up. I don't inherently schedule two week follow ups. Instead, I send a text message at two weeks and I tell them you're going to get a text message at two weeks. We all have lives. We're all working, we're all adulting, we're all not sleeping. So to ask you to come back in, that's asking a lot. So I'll send you a text message at two weeks. But if someone is giving me pushback and they say, well, I want to wait for the results, I say, all right, awesome, let's have you come in so we can see the results together. We can look at befores and afters. I love looking at befores and afters. We can see if we can iterate something, reiterate something. And then at that second meeting, then I book the 14 weeks after they, they see themselves and they see how good it looks. But for the most part, I don't really seem to get that much pushback. That much. Which is kind of nice.

Ricky Shockley (47:54)

That that's really cool though because you almost have built in a downsell in terms of your appointment booking. Like your first ask is to just rebook the book the appointment and then if they say no, your downsell is, okay, well, let's just get you back in for the two weeks so we can look at the results. I love that it's such a cool, I think, unique idea. Yeah, I had my mic muted when you were talking about rebooking in the chair with you directly versus moving it to the front office. It's like the difference between you asking your friend to go to lunch and you having like your executive assistant ask your friend if they want to go to lunch with you. Right. When it comes from the person that has the relationship, you're much more likely to get a better response.

Lauren Nettles (48:31)

Absolutely. How do you manage the two week follow ups, Laura? Is it text, phone call? How do you make sure that you have the right list of people and when you need to reach out and how do you keep that kind of all in line?

Laura Smuts (48:44)

As soon as the appointment closes, then it sends A signal to send out a text message in 14 days. So it's not me, it's automated, which makes it really nice. But it just. And then I'm changing that. I purposely change it every quarter so then the patient doesn't know that I'm not sending it out and that they feel that it's very personalized because everybody. Three months, I have it on my schedule to change that. So it's not repetitive.

Lauren Nettles (49:13)

I love that. I think that's so smart.

Renata Roddy (49:15)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (49:16)

Great idea.

Lauren Nettles (49:17)

Nice.

Laura Smuts (49:17)

I wanted to feel personal without having to put in all that effort.

Ricky Shockley (49:21)

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Exactly.

Lauren Nettles (49:23)

And it still is to your advantage, for sure.

Ricky Shockley (49:26)

It still is kind of personal, though. The out the outgoing message might not be, but if they're responding and they're asking any questions, like you all are actually responding and having a conversation with the client, I assume, right?

Laura Smuts (49:36)

Yes. The other thing I do is that I ask my front desk person to. I have taught her a lot, and I give her a lot of snippets, but I ask her to respond as if it is me not saying we will. I say I. And then if she has any questions or anything, then she just leaves it. And then I respond back in between patients. But I think that that is something. I'm small. It's only me and one other person, so I can do that. But I think the more personalized, they don't know whether or not they're texting me or whether or not they're texting Joanna, my front desk. So it feels more personal.

Ricky Shockley (50:14)

And we've noticed that, too. Even just from a marketing standpoint, the more continuity you have from whatever the advertising message was and who they think they're doing business with, to the person that's responsible for the relationship and nailing down the appointment to who asks for the rebooking and who follows up, the more consistent that is, and it's aligned with the person providing service, the better. So I think that's a very good idea. Good strategy.

Lauren Nettles (50:37)

Absolutely. Yeah. Two more questions that we have for you, Laura. One is kind of close to the end to wrap up here. Clients have so many options in terms of med spas. Right. There's probably a bunch around you that you can even think of that are nearby. What couple things, maybe two or three number one key takeaways. Would you attribute great relationships and great retention numbers to that might be unique to what you're doing?

Laura Smuts (51:05)

That's a tough question. I think the first thing that I do is, from the get go, I basically tell them that. And I tell every patient, I say, I want to make you happy. That is my job. If you're not happy, I'm not happy. If I'm not happy, then I go home and I yell at my husband and then he's not happy. So our job is to make everyone happy. And so that really sets the stage that if a patient doesn't, isn't 100% thrilled with her results, then she knows that she can come to me and she can talk to me, she or he. But 95% of my patients are female. For instance, I had a patient we did temple filler on and there was just a little tiny missing right here. I did, I opened a full syringe and I put just point one in her temple after I had already done her treatment. And then she asked me later that because that was during the exact same appointment time. And she said, oh, are you going to throw that out? I said, yeah, I have to throw that out. And I said, you didn't need any other filler because she did six syringes of filler that day. And I said, you didn't need any more filler in your face, but you did need that little bit. So I just opened a syringe and I just did that free of charge. And the reason is because I want to make you 100% happy. And she probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but I noticed it and I wanted to correct it. So I'm pretty upfront with my patients that if you're not happy, let me know and we will find a way to make it work together. It's not the best business policy to like be opening up, you know, a hundred dollar syringe to be using point 1. But I know that she cried when she saw herself because it just like she was tears of joy. And so to be able to provide that, I know she's going to go out, she's going to talk to other people and she's going to say, you have to go to Laura etc. So giving people those results, they come back.

Lauren Nettles (52:53)

I love that. I think adding on to that too is like, I know I've been in the hair salon and I get terrible results and I'm too scared when she turns me around to say, I don't like it. Can you fix it? So I think building that relationship that you do with them and making it a super open and honest environment that kind of trickles all the way down. If you're not happy, I'm not either. I think that is like definitely the way to go. And I love that little tidbit.

Laura Smuts (53:17)

Yeah. And I make a joke out of it, too. Like, I say that to everyone. Like, if I'm not happy, then I go home and my husband's not happy. But it makes it. It makes it joking, but it also makes it serious, which is kind of how I like to have a rapport with patients where it is very friendly, but they. At the end of the day, they know I'm serious. I have fun Lara. And then I have serious Lara once I start doing the treatment. And so I think just making sure that the patient and checking back. And the other thing is, is that complications do happen. I mean, we do work in a field. Nothing can go perfectly. The other thing I make sure I do is if I do have a complication with a patient, they get my personal cell. Number one, they get my personal cell, they can call me, they can text me, they can do whatever. And then number two, I follow up with them. I follow up daily. I had one complication that happened a couple of weeks before Christmas, and we were talking all the way through Christmas to the point where I said, merry Christmas on Christmas Day. So I just make sure I follow up and follow through with those patients, and they will then know that I truly care about them, and they will retain. I will be able to retain that patient rather than going elsewhere.

Lauren Nettles (54:27)

I love that. Awesome.

Ricky Shockley (54:29)

Yeah. That was phenomenal. Lauren, did you have anything else?

Lauren Nettles (54:32)

No, I think that's it.

Ricky Shockley (54:34)

I feel like there were so many good nuggets from that. Thank you, Laura. I think it's like, it's reinforcing the idea that. That as a med spa, you're really in the customer service business. You're not in the Botox business. Botox is the commodity. They can get it anywhere. The thing that. The thing that you have to do that helps you stand apart is how you treat people and how you go about serving your clients and your customers. I think you just exemplify that in so many ways. That was awesome.

Laura Smuts (54:55)

Well, for me, specifically, the reason why I do that is because I went through ivf. Like, this is tmi, but I went through ivf, and so I had to pay for my medicine for my medical service. And so I expected. Because I was actually dealing out cash, I expected to be treated a different way than if insurance were. Were dealing with me. And so when I went to the doctor's office, I was going to make sure that I wasn't treated like a secondhand citizen. And so I make sure that because people are paying for this, it is concierge. I make sure that every patient is treated as like you're spending your disposable income with me. You are taking it very serious. So I take it very serious. And I think that that really reflects.

Ricky Shockley (55:40)

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing.

Lauren Nettles (55:43)

Yeah, thank you, Laura.

Ricky Shockley (55:44)

Thank you, Laura. We appreciate the time. Amazing.

Laura Smuts (55:46)

Thank you.

Ricky Shockley (55:47)

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. It if you'd 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. To finish today's round roundtable, we're joined by Brooke and Michelle from Port St. Lucie Medical Wellness in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Brooke Injector and Michelle Esthetician aim to provide a holistic approach to healthcare and aesthetics for their patients. Like our other guests, their practice is also rated a perfect five stars on Google. And you can learn more about Port St. Lucie Medical Wellness@pslwellness.com okay, so first.

Lauren Nettles (56:43)

We'Re going to talk a little bit about the consultation process and how you both kind of handle that. If one of you want to answer, both of you want to answer, feel free to jump in. We have Michelle, who is esthetician, so on the esthetic side, and then we have Brooke as well, who is an injector. So they'll be coming from kind of different perspectives in terms of the consultation process. First question here is how do you educate patients during the consultation process and give them a full picture without overwhelming them?

Brooke (57:12)

For me, you know, I keep it as, like, basic and simple as possible. Obviously, you know, we go through their medical history forms to see if there's any kind of contraindications to the treatment. But we also have a questionnaire asking basically about their lifestyle, how they're sleeping, they're eating, their diet. So we can kind of get an overall view of what other things could be concerns for them later on. And we can also sometimes connect the dots that way, too. If there's A specific issue that they're dealing with, you know, and they may not be thinking about other things. We can kind of incorporate that and roll it onto one. Brooke and I also do a good job at doing dual consultations. So we'll bring each other into the room together. So that way we can come up with a treatment plan on both our ends to help meet their goals.

Lauren Nettles (58:00)

I love that. That is like the number one thing we always recommend is as many faces as you can get them to see at the office during one visit is definitely worth it. Did you have something you want to add, Ricky?

Ricky Shockley (58:10)

Yeah, just a follow up on that. I had that like later in the questions, but I think it ties right into that. How do you draw the line between like a comprehensive consultation that makes them aware of all of their options? Because obviously that helps with initial visit revenue. Right. They're more likely to buy other things and bigger packages than whatever they originally came in for. How do you balance like the education that can lead to a bigger sale without being like salesy or pushy and feeling like you're just, you know, throwing a bunch of stuff at them, trying to get them to buy. Is there like a balance to that?

Brooke (58:39)

Yeah, there's definitely a balance. I mean, because obviously you want to make sure your client knows that you genuinely care about them and they're concern. So I mean, I'll notify them and let them know these are specials that we have going on. But really when it comes down to it, these are the things that I'm going to recommend for your skin. You know, I'm not going to match you up to a price or a deal that isn't going to fit your needs and what you're specifically looking for. So we're just very honest and open about that kind of stuff. And you know, I think building the trust is, is really what helps, helps bring them back. And sometimes at first they may be like, oh, I'm not interested in that. But as you start to go through the service and they start to like you a little bit more and they start to feel more comfortable with you, they start opening up and be like, so what was that chemical peel that you were telling me about and how often should I do that? We'll talk more about their lifestyle if it fits in with what they're doing, if they have vacations coming up, you know, you really develop that personal relationship. So that way they, they look at you more of I'm taking care of you rather than I'm trying to get you to buy more Things for me.

Ricky Shockley (59:45)

Yeah, that's amazing. So. So it's like authenticity and I feel like that has to come from a place of just being real. Because people, I always say people can smell it on you. Like if they feel like you're just trying to sell them something, they can sense it. Like if there's an incentive to sell them something, like you're just going after a commission or, or something like that, they can feel that. And it sounds like what you're doing is you're like planting the seed in the original part of the consultation, but in a very like soft sell manner where it's, it's really, really not pushy at all. And then throughout the course of the session, when you're kind of talking and developing a relationship, people tend to bring those things up if they're interested. Is that. I like that a lot. That's.

Brooke (60:21)

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Michelle (60:23)

Building trust along with that. That some people will come in and say, I want, you know, for instance, Botox, I want to be totally frozen. And I'll explain to them, like, you should have a genuine smile that has, you know, some crow's feet there. It's called a Duchenne smile. And it's like, like authentic. Right. So you don't want to like totally freeze that. And then I'll have them smile. And a lot of times I say, like, you don't need that. And that tells them like, oh, like she's actually wanting to help me. She's not thinking I should do everything all at once. And so they appreciate when you tell them, like, you don't need that. That's something we can look at in the future, but right now I wouldn't do that. And they appreciate it.

Ricky Shockley (61:00)

I love that. I feel like we do that a lot. So you're almost finding a place to tell them, no, don't spend your money here. And that's, that's another really great way to plant the seed of trust. Yeah, cool.

Brooke (61:10)

I love that sometimes people follow the trends too. You know, people that will ask me, like, how often should I get this done? And instead of saying, you need to get this done, I'll explain to people. Well, you know, a lot of people will do six weeks or eight weeks, almost as kind of like a mental thing for them where they're like, well, if everyone else is doing it at that time frame, then I should be doing at that time frame. Time frame too. So that way, you know, you're, you're telling them that they need to come back, but you're not Making it such a sense of urgency where it's like, you have to get in here, you have to get in here. We don't like to always tell them like you need these things. It's what is your concern and how can we help you?

Lauren Nettles (61:49)

I love that. So looking at more of a long term approach rather than just that one appointment and what we're going to get done in this one appointment and how we're going to play that out long term for you. So kind of playing into that. We really believe that people pick practices based on trusting the provider and they rebook or return and stay with you for a long time based on that trust in that relationship. How do you feel like you instill trust and your expertise without being like, oh, I went to school here and I got this award and I did this and how do you feel like are some ways that you can really instill that trust and your expertise and knowledge that makes you better than the person down the street that makes know the same thing or have the same schooling?

Brooke (62:28)

I mean for me it's kind of started in the education process. For me, a lot of people, once I'm doing a consultation with them, they're just like, wow, like you really seem like you know your stuff and you know, you don't want to over toot your own horn. But you know, like sometimes I'll even make a joke about it. I'm like, well I sure hope so, you know, and kind of laughing to like break that ice. Just being very friendly, very personable, you know, not. Yeah, you have the good customer service.

Laura Smuts (62:56)

Hi, how are you?

Brooke (62:57)

Welcome. So on and so forth. But like you mentioned earlier, just kind of being real and authentic and letting a little bit of your personality show through, they feel more, they feel safe and like, okay, like that you're not looking at me as another number. You're generally interested in me as a person and my well being.

Lauren Nettles (63:14)

Yeah.

Michelle (63:14)

I ask people when they come in, like, like, because there's different kinds of people, there's people who want to know everything. How does the botox work, how does the field work, what's it made out of, all this stuff? And there's some people who don't give a right. So I always ask them, like, how deep do you want me to get into this? Like, do you care how it works or do you just want to know the results, how long it lasts, all that stuff and then we can kind of go from there. And then once they start getting this feeling of how knowledgeable I am on the Product, they get more comfortable with.

Ricky Shockley (63:47)

Doing those things with, with that relationship element is in your head. Is that just natural for you, both of you, or are there certain things you're thinking about in terms of, like, conversation? Like, how do I make this an appointment where I'm not just sitting here doing the service? It doesn't feel cold. And you know what I mean? Like, how do you actually, how do you break the ice and start conversations? Do you have, like just subconsciously a question or two that you usually start a conversation with, or is it just really natural for both of you?

Brooke (64:13)

I mean, for me, it's pretty natural because I've been doing this long enough. I mean, it could be as simple as just, so, what brings you in today? How can I help you? And sometimes people are open book and they'll just go on and on and on and give you all the information you need to know. And then, you know, other times they could be very quiet, very reserved, you know, but you're still trying to make that personal relationship with them. You know, you can ask about themselves and that will often kind of turn and flip on you and like, okay, well, where, where are you from? Where do you live? How did you get into this? That's one of the most common questions is, so what made you get into this industry? You know, so then I get to tell them that story. And from there they can see, you know, how my passion grew and, and how it developed into where I'm at. And they're like, wow, that's a really cool story. I love hearing that. So.

Michelle (64:59)

The only thing I do, like, on a conscious level, otherwise it's just natural, kind of just flows. But I always make it a point to offer them something like, you want coffee, you want a beverage, there's a cooler out there. And then I always make a point to find something about them, to compliment them up. Your shirt is so cute. Your shoes are cute, you look nice today. Those kinds of things. To develop that kind of like reciprocal reciprocity.

Lauren Nettles (65:25)

Yeah.

Michelle (65:26)

To kind of get that relationship going.

Lauren Nettles (65:29)

That's awesome.

Ricky Shockley (65:30)

Yeah, awesome.

Lauren Nettles (65:32)

All right, so I think consult wise, that kind of covers a lot of it if we want to jump into rebooking a little bit here. So. So what does your rebooking process look like? So I feel like this is a big conversation that we have of how do we get somebody to actually schedule that next appointment? What's that next step? How do we get them to take that? What does your process look like? So let's say treatment's done. Next step from there, do you walk them to the desk and say bye, or what do you do in terms of next steps?

Brooke (66:01)

I mean, obviously, if there's any, like, specials that's going on, that that's an extremely easy way to bring them back in. But, like, for instance, right now, like, I don't have any specials on dermaplaning, you know, but I'll tell them, like, hey, you know, makeup is a concern for you. You might want to consider coming in for every four weeks if you're just really looking for a healthy glow. Let's do you at eight weeks. I'm lucky enough that they give me a little bit of room to kind of negotiate some price in. In that room. So if, you know, if they're a loyal client that's coming on a regular basis. For instance, I had a client on Tuesday that she came in for a December special, but the special blew up so big, she got pushed all the way to February. So I told her, hey, since you didn't get a chance to take advantage of the January special, I'll honor the January special for you for the next time you come in. You know, of course, I let them know, you know, we always have specials that's going on Pete, keep, you know, keep an eye out for that. But it's really about kind of almost making it sound, like, natural. Just kind of like, okay, so when did you want to schedule your next dermaplaning? You know, and sometimes they'll say, oh, you know, I. I'll look at my calendar. Sometimes they'll say, I need to go home and look at my calendar. We do have a lot of snowbirds down here. So sometimes they'll use that, like, oh, I might be coming, going home. I'm not sure when I'm going home. But, you know, it's just very much about kind of reminding them to maintain their results. Skincare is always in maintenance, at least on my side. It's never just a one and done treatment.

Lauren Nettles (67:31)

So definitely anything from you, Brooke, in terms of the injectable side, what you do for getting that follow up scheduled in that next visit.

Michelle (67:40)

So it can go one of two ways for me. Either people want to wait. If they've never been to me before, they want to wait and see the results and then they want to rebook. Or people have such a great time and they love me that I'll tell them, like, your next treatment's in three months. Would you like to schedule that?

Ricky Shockley (67:56)

Now?

Michelle (67:56)

That would be January, you know, February, March, whatever. And Then they'll go ahead and do it. So it can kind of go both ways for me when they are willing to do it right off the bat. But other times not so much.

Ricky Shockley (68:09)

But if they are both of you.

Michelle (68:10)

I do it before I leave.

Ricky Shockley (68:14)

Are both of you doing the rebooking yourself? So you're prompting Michelle, if it's you, if it's your client, you're prompting them to rebook and asking the question directly. Brooke, same with you. We also, yeah, I think we.

Brooke (68:25)

Sorry to mean to interview. We also have a load program where, you know, obviously they sign off and they come in and then we also do follow ups as well. So we do two week follow ups and three month follow ups to one make sure that everyone is doing well and there's no issues that arise if they're happy with their services and then if they haven't rebooked to get them back into rebook as well.

Laura Smuts (68:48)

Absolutely.

Ricky Shockley (68:48)

I love that. So you're not, you're not like walking the patient to like a front desk and handing them off. You all are rebooking the patient directly. I think we found that to be a common theme in the most successful practices. And it seems that some people have just kind of stumbled into that. And some people are the people that see a, I would say diminished or less efficient result when it comes to rebooking. There's a lot of times a handoff where it's a little bit easier to say no because now you just passed it to the front desk person. The front desk just says, would you like to schedule a follow up? Not even when would you like to schedule hall, but just would you?

Laura Smuts (69:18)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (69:19)

And you have a lot more people just percentage wise that I think respond with, well, let me look at my calendar and leave. And we've always said that the best strategy is probably to try to set the appointment as a default and then let them cancel it. But let's try to get it on the books and if something changes, they can let us know. But we want them hopefully leaving the office with that appointment on the calendar.

Michelle (69:37)

I love that I tell them just go ahead and schedule it and if you can't make it, then just let me know.

Ricky Shockley (69:42)

Exactly.

Michelle (69:43)

Go ahead and get it on in case we're full that day and then you have that slot.

Lauren Nettles (69:46)

Yeah, yeah. So, Brooke, I have actually two follow ups to what you had just mentioned in terms of some objections there. So when you get an objection to rebooking that next appointment, whether it's, oh, I don't know what my Schedule looks like, or I need to think about it or those kind of things. What do you do in terms of that? Objection. Do you say, okay, sounds good and let it go? Do you push a little bit without being too pushy? Where do you find that balance? And then how do you get that rebook still secured in the long run?

Michelle (70:15)

Well, I'll tell them, like I just said, I'll tell them like, well, let's go ahead and get you on the books because I'm busy. Right. So you want to make sure you have a time secured. If you do want to come and if you go home and you look at your calendar and that doesn't fit, then you can call me and we can reschedule. Not want to cancel. Right, we want to reschedule it. But otherwise I don't push too hard on it. I just let them know, you know, we are busy, we are getting busier. So it's important to have those things scheduled in advance because you might not be able to call that day and get an appointment that day.

Lauren Nettles (70:47)

Right.

Ricky Shockley (70:48)

Do you have a rough percentage? If you had to estimate how many people that come in for service and let's use not an existing client, let's just say specifically new clients that are first visit it, what percentage of those people would you say are leaving with a second appointment booked versus the people that tell you they want to see the result or get back to you? Do you have just a rough idea of the percentage there?

Michelle (71:10)

Michelle's is much higher.

Brooke (71:14)

Well, that's because she has like 98%.

Ricky Shockley (71:19)

Interesting.

Brooke (71:20)

Yeah, this is kind of because, you know, you see results a little bit faster with skincare. I mean, with obviously like fillers and stuff, you, you'll see it right then and there. But like the injectables and everything. Like she mentioned a lot of people like, oh, I want to wait to like see the results and everything like that. But I kind of do the same thing, like if I get a pushback where they're like, oh, I want to see how I like the results first, you know, let them know, like, okay, you know, sometimes we can get busy and you know, it's better just kind of schedule it so that way you have it on the specific day and specific time. That works best for you. Something comes up, we can reschedule. If you need to push it back, we can always reschedule. As we said, we try not to use the word cancel. But you know, it now I'm brainstorming.

Ricky Shockley (72:04)

No, that's amazing. Use the word reschedule. Instead of cancel. So you're basically taking cancel out of your vocabulary. Everything is defaulted to reschedule. Yeah, I love that. I think that's a great little tidbit.

Michelle (72:16)

You know, they're coming in for hydroderm abrasion or ipo, like photo facial. Oftentimes she'll say, you know, this service is recommended once a month, so if you do it once a month consistently, you're going to see better results. And she'll oftentimes get people to book every month. We're like six months out.

Brooke (72:34)

Yeah, yeah.

Ricky Shockley (72:37)

And I think with like consumer psychology we always talk about too. It's like very, very rarely are any of us 100% confident in a purchase decision. Everybody's got like a different buying sensitivity. And what we're trying to do is just, we're trying to set the default expectation that you have an appointment. So then that's the default and the onus is on you to have to cancel or reschedule to make a change. If we don't have the appointment on the books, then the default is that there's no appointment. And now there's extra hurdles that we have to jump through to get that person back on the schedule. So. So moving people to the default of trying to get them on the schedule, letting them know if something changes, you can reschedule. Don't say cancel. They might, but don't put it in their mind essentially.

Brooke (73:16)

Yeah, absolutely.

Ricky Shockley (73:17)

Yeah. Cool.

Lauren Nettles (73:18)

Yeah. Great tidbits, Brooke. One additional follow up to your point of wanting to wait to see the results. Do you end up following up with that person? I know you schedule a two week follow up appointment, but do you follow up outside of that too via a text or a call to see how it's going? Oh, go ahead.

Michelle (73:36)

We do follow up calls every two weeks.

Lauren Nettles (73:39)

That's awesome.

Brooke (73:41)

Yeah, just check in.

Michelle (73:42)

Is there anything. Our front desk lady will do it and she'll say, you know, is there anything you'd like me to relay to your provider? Anything you're experiencing and then when would you like to schedule your next appointment? So there's like that follow up and there's also three month follow up phone calls to reschedule again.

Lauren Nettles (74:02)

That's awesome.

Ricky Shockley (74:04)

Logistically, how do you schedule, how do you, how do you ensure that that's on the calendar to follow up with that person in two weeks? What is the logistic? So how do they know to do that?

Michelle (74:12)

Usually every Thursday I go back two weeks and I pull that week of clients that came in. Some of them are Very loyal. And I, A lot of my weight loss patients I see every week. So I'll scratch them off, right. Because I obviously touch base with them once a week. So I'll take off. Who needs to be taken off? And then I give that to our front desk receptionist and then I do the same thing every three months. So at the beginning of the month I pull the last three month appointments.

Ricky Shockley (74:45)

And are they just leaving a message if you don't get an answer? Leaving a voicemail or are they calling back if they don't get an answer or just leaving a message?

Michelle (74:50)

They're leaving a message. And it's funny because a lot I. Apparently this is not like a normal thing for practices to do. So we'll get. The patients will call back just to say thank you.

Lauren Nettles (75:00)

Yeah.

Brooke (75:00)

Because they're not.

Ricky Shockley (75:01)

Oh, cool.

Michelle (75:02)

Or they'll come back and they'll be like, is everything okay? Then we're like, yeah, we're checking on you. And they're like, oh yeah, it's great, thank you. Like they're like confused.

Brooke (75:13)

Yeah, they genuinely are confused. They're like, yeah, I've had multiple people like, oh my God, I've never had a place like do this before. And I'm like, well, we just generally care. We want to make sure you're happy. So yeah.

Lauren Nettles (75:24)

And I think that really relationship building and no like and trust aspects of making them want to choose you again. Because even if you had a fence sitter that didn't schedule that next appointment, now they have another touch point in their brain of making them love you, where next time they see a special, are they going to pick the new place or are they going to go back to the people they already really enjoyed and really trusted and appreciated the follow up from?

Michelle (75:46)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (75:47)

And it's, it's so hard to stand out in this space because you're offering the same services essentially. Right. You're not doing anything dramatically different than what your competitors are doing. So a lot of it comes down to how do you provide a better, a little bit better result and a little bit better customer experience and the smallest things that can tip the scale in your favor. And that's amazing that you have that insight that like, hey, other people have mentioned that they don't really get a call, a follow up call two weeks after just to check in. And that one little touch point could be the thing that creates extra stickiness. That one thing alone.

Lauren Nettles (76:15)

And I think one final question too. I know we're wrapping up time here, but a really important one for Us is we get a lot of feedback from people when they first start working with us. That is like, hey, every time somebody wants to rebook, they just rebook. I don't have to push for it, I don't need to work for it kind of thing. So where do you lie with. It's harder with new patients, of course, because they came in for a promo. We kind of need to work a little harder to get them rebooked and to build that trust in that appointment. So at what point do you continue to follow up, continue to push for that or do you kind of accept that it might be a loss in terms of that rebook? Like where does that process continue to or where does it end? Like do you put the effort in to continue to get that rebook or where do you end that process?

Michelle (76:56)

That point I would say if, if they haven't rebooked at that three month mark, which is in general the recommendation for at least a couple of her services in mine, then I don't do like 6 month follow up calls or anything like that. Then it's just, well, we tried. But the loyalty, the loyalty card incentivizes people to come as well because on their ninth visit they get $100 off and it can be anything retail product, it can be anything she does, anything I do. So that kind of incentivizes people to come back as well.

Ricky Shockley (77:31)

So. So on the injectable side, you basically have three lines of defense for attempted rebooking for a new patient. You're trying to rebook them in office, then they're coming back hopefully for their just follow up check in appointment. That's another opportunity to rebook. And then the last one is even if they don't have anything on the schedule at that point, they're still getting a call at the three month mark because you're checking back in. And that makes total sense. You've basically given this person three opportunities to rebook and we're kind of writing them off if they haven't after that. But I think a lot of practices it's like they either did or they didn't and they don't necessarily have a diligent process for even checking back in. And definitely not three months with down the line with a phone call. I think that's phenomenal.

Brooke (78:07)

Cool.

Ricky Shockley (78:08)

I know. Brooke, you had to run any last questions?

Lauren Nettles (78:10)

Lauren, I do have one more question and I think it's a cool one too is so I know you both have separate areas of expertise, right? So Brooke, you do the injectables And Michelle, you're more on the aesthetic side. How knowledgeable are you in all service offerings to ensure that. Let's say, Michelle, somebody came in for that 25 facial and they ask you about Botox or filler or how that maps for them. Or Brooke, the other way they ask you about a hydrafacial dermaplane. Like, how knowledgeable are you on those types of things, too, if you're not both able to be in the room for those kind of things?

Brooke (78:43)

Things for me, I have, like, some. Some basic knowledge of things. Obviously, I'm always trying to constantly learn more on her side of the things. But I also try not to give too much information to the client. I like to give them enough where they're interested. And then I tell them, hey, why don't you meet with my nurse practitioner? You know, before you go, let me pop in and see if she's available to come in and answer a couple.

Lauren Nettles (79:07)

Questions for you real quick.

Brooke (79:09)

Because I'm not going to be the provider of those services. So she still needs an opportunity for them to meet her and like her and trust her to do those services. Because I tell everybody, I'm like, once you meet Brooke, you're going to love her. And then, you know, I want to see them walking out of the room like, isn't she the best? Like, oh, my God, she's absolutely the best. I'm like, I told you, she's amazing. Like, that's why I wanted you to talk to her, so that way she can give you the full detail. I don't give you any wrong information. Then of course, they say they fall in love with her. Like, she's so knowledgeable in what she does, and she's such a wonderful personality. Like, how could you not love her?

Lauren Nettles (79:44)

I love that. So it's almost like leaving a little bit of information out to push that intro between the next provider, too. Instead of, I'll tell it like, I.

Michelle (79:53)

Know basic knowledge of stuff. If they're really asking a bunch of, like, laser resurfacing or IPL questions like that, I'll give them and I'll tell them flat out. Like, I can stab needles in you all day. I can save your life. But lasers, I'm like, not dumb.

Brooke (80:12)

Laser dumb.

Michelle (80:13)

So I'll tell them, like, just the basic knowledge. And then I'll say, let me go get Michelle.

Brooke (80:17)

Yeah.

Michelle (80:17)

So she can answer your questions. So I don't tell you something that's incorrect or give you, like, a false promise or some expectation. You know, I love so you're basically.

Ricky Shockley (80:25)

Walking down the halls, wing woman, wing womaning each other all day with patients. I love that.

Brooke (80:30)

Yeah.

Ricky Shockley (80:31)

Cool.

Lauren Nettles (80:31)

How do you build that in? Sorry, this is another little. I guess I could go all day with these because it's so insightful. But how do you build that into your schedule in terms of allowing for the time to go in and chat with each other's patients? Like, do you have to build buffer room between appointments or is it just, hey, while you're numbing, I'm going to walk in and say hey to this person or that kind of thing?

Brooke (80:50)

Yeah, a lot of it is kind of just like who's available when. And sometimes too, you know, we actually get talking to clients long enough, like after an appointment where, like, if Brooke is with somebody, then she's finishing. I'm like, oh, there's Brooke right now. Like, hey, Brooke, do you have two seconds to talk to my client? You know, so. And then if not, we can say, hey, you can come back later today. We can set up an appointment, like, on the spot. But we do try to see if we can just get each other in the room in that moment so then we can get that appointment booked before they go.

Lauren Nettles (81:20)

I love that. That's awesome.

Ricky Shockley (81:22)

Yeah.

Renata Roddy (81:23)

Cool.

Ricky Shockley (81:23)

Amazing. Well, thank you, Michelle. Thank you, Brooke.

Brooke (81:25)

Thank you.

Ricky Shockley (81:26)

We appreciate it. Have a great rest of the day.

Brooke (81:28)

Thank you. You too.

Ricky Shockley (81:30)

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.