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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to the MedSpa Success Strategies podcast where MedSpa and aesthetics practice owners come to discover strategies and tactics that help them better market and manage their practices so they can grow, improve profitability and have greater impact for themselves, their teams and their patients. I'm excited today to be joined by Chris Balldy. Chris is the Director of Marketing and Operations at MESHA Aesthetics where he has been a key player in the practice growth for over 14 years. Chris is Facebook Blueprint certified among other certifications and spent time studying with Jonah Berger, thought to be one of the most revolutionary minds in the making things viral industry. Chris blends creativity with sound psychological principles to implement highly effective marketing solutions that generate meaningful business results.
- [00:44]
B
Welcome to Riverside Podcast.
- [00:47]
A
Chris. Doing the intro for me. I love it. Well, Chris, we're excited to have you back. We don't do a ton of return guests. We had a really good conversation last time. Excited to have you back on the podcast. And today we're going to be focused the conversation here on retention, AI and then maybe wherever else the conversation takes us as kind of, you know, how we roll here.
- [01:05]
B
But clearly, as a return guest, I'm the king of retention. I had you retain me. Look at me go.
- [01:09]
A
That's true. Exactly. It's embedded. Cool. All right. Well, obviously as a med spa, retention is critically important. Like, we can get our books full all day, especially if we're talking about the services that rely on recurring revenue and retention and it doesn't move the needle. Our businesses don't grow if we don't retain clients. I think this is a challenge for certain people. I think even for the people that are doing successfully, we're always trying to figure out, how do we do this 3, 5, 7% better. So real quick, let's start, I guess, at the patient experience. Is there anything that happens during the first treatment or first visit that you think is setting you up for. For success with retention?
- [01:49]
B
Yeah. Before we even get that far, I want to dive into why retention matters. Right. So it's 70% harder to get a new patient than it is to retain a current patient. So it's actually easier to retain your patients than you believe. And it's more expensive to get new ones than it is to convert your current ones into other services. That's why I'm so such a stickler for retention. My dad actually spent decades in the car industry and he had an expression. Sales sells the first car and service sells the second car. So in our industry, for the med spot industry. Right. Like my social media marketing sells the first visit, but then my service in office books the second visit or retains that client, if you will. And so, you know, little touches in the office. We have a, and I'm sure we'll touch on this later, a patient rewards program. We call it Misha plus ours runs through repeat md. They handle a lot of like the building back end stuff for us. But every time you visit, you get a check in and that check in earns you closer to rewards. I mean, look, let's be honest, I don't know. Ricky, are you a Starbucks or a Dunkin Donuts fan? Do you drink coffee at all?
- [02:50]
A
Today was Dunkin, but it's both. I interchange both of them every single day.
- [02:54]
B
Do you use the rewards apps or. No.
- [02:57]
A
On both of them? Yes.
- [02:58]
B
Right. So it's a little bit of gamification. Right. So case in point, they retain you as a client of their coffee shop because, well, you can earn boosted rewards on Dunkin and you get bonus stars on Starbucks. And why are we not tapping into that market? Right. So, you know, again, not a plug for RepeatMD, but they just were the ones who made it easiest for me. So that's one small section of retention there. That's part of my patient experience. The other things for patient experience is my text message journey. Right. So you let's do late lip filler. Right? Two weeks before your lip filler visit, you get a text message that says, I hope you're getting excited for your new lips. Just a reminder, now's a good time to slow down on drinking and or blood thinners if they're not medically prescribed. This is going to make your experience better. This is our first touch point, Right. And then a week out. Hey, we're super excited. If you want to start taking arnica, now's a good time. It's my second touch point the day before. Hey, get a good night rest, Stay hydrated. New lips are headed your way. This is all part of my retention process. Right. I'm creating an experience. It's not an in and out. Right. And then in your visit, we'll talk about it more in a second. We do your lips and then the next day I text you. You're probably panicking because you think your lips are too big. Don't panic. It's swelling. Right. And so you might have had your lips done a dozen times, but it's that extra text message that really seals the deal. And you don't want to visit anywhere else because they're not going to hold your hand the entire Time. All right, so that's kind of the.
- [04:22]
A
Yeah, you're like. You're like, coaching them through the lead up to the appointment. That's pretty interesting. I don't think many people are doing that. You're. You're sitting there like their personal trainer for their prep for their appointment.
- [04:33]
B
Right, right. And, you know, Botox is a little easier. Like, there's not a lot of prep work into it. Yeah, it's not uncommon, though. Like a week before your boat. And this also serves as a reminder text. Right. So if a patient does have to reschedule, then at least I have time to fill the book. Right. So if they have to cancel reschedule, they get that reminder text. It doesn't feel like a reminder text. So they're more likely to be like, oh, crap. Okay, I'm going to text them real quick and move my appointment. Right. So that's another portion of the retention. In my waiting rooms, I've got the coffees and the waters and the sodas. It also cuts down on people being late because they know they can get a beverage right in my office without stopping at that Starbucks or Dunkin and putting themselves behind. So those little touches all make their experience a little bit more accessible and. Or they want to come back to me because they might be able to get Botox cheaper down the street, but they can't get the experience down the street. Right.
- [05:25]
A
Yeah. I love that and the combination of things. One of the things I've been so bad about historically, I always want the big idea. So, like, when we're talking about improvements on anything, I'm always like, well, that's okay. That'll move the needle a little bit. I'm not going to obsess over that. That's not worth my time. Let me think of the big thing. But the reality, especially in this space, it's very competitive. It's. It's hard to differentiate. And it's about being good and putting the little extra into all of these little things in sequence that make a difference. Even something like the loyalty program, you're just adding one little notch of friction that says, oh, okay, I'm seeing another ad for the med spa down the street. They've got a pretty good deal. They've got good reviews. Maybe I go try there. Oh. But I'm inevitably gonna have to come back and settle on a place. I've already got my rewards program. Okay. Like, I'm just going to sit here and make sure that I go back to the place that I've been Visiting it changes the default or it, it helps lean the default back into your direction and creates a little bit of friction from moving to another provider.
- [06:22]
B
Speaking of friction, another thing that I think flips the script on friction is I also provide multiple user, multiple provider experience. So you meet with an esthetician and an injector and a front desk member. But I've got multiple of each. Right. So if you have and 7 out of 10 experience of one esthetician, you're not going to go to another med spot. You're more likely to try another esthetician in my network. Right. In my med spa. And I'm very upfront with my team and my clients and say we share patient charts on a HIPAA secure network. So if you didn't vibe. Right. So if one of my decisions was too dark and moody for you and you prefer bright and bubbly, try it. And if the bright bubbly was too aggressive, find one of my estheticians that's in the middle. Right. And same thing with my injectors. And before you run to another med spot, run to another provider within my med spa. We're not all the same.
- [07:10]
A
You've got like a fail safe of different providers built in. Is like the option B. Yeah, absolutely.
- [07:15]
B
So that's my other retention secret is don't try to make all your injectors cookie cutter because not every client's cookie cutter. Right.
- [07:22]
A
Yeah. That's interesting. How do you get that feedback from the client? Are you waiting for them to kind of say it or like how do you kind of figure out if the patient did have that 7 out of 10 experience? Because. Because one of the things that we've talked about is like the B plus experience, it. You are now risking the client retention. Right. If they have a B plus experience and they feel like they can get an A experience somewhere else or you're an A minus and they, they're chasing the A plus, they'll leave. So how do you kind of figure that out?
- [07:46]
B
Oh my God, I'm getting so much shit for saying this and I apologize. My least favorite client is the 6 to 9 out of 10 client. I love a 10 out of 10 client. And I love a 1 through 4 out of 10 client. Those ones are the easiest to maintain. Right. If you have a great experience or a bad experience, I can fix it or I don't have to fix it.
- [08:06]
A
Yeah, we know what's going on.
- [08:07]
B
The middle of the road client is the hardest one. I think it's because I ask probing questions. It's not a hey, my name is Chris. I'm a manager checking in how your visit was. Yeah, it's hey, my name is Chris. What was the best part of your experience? That way they can't just say it was good. They have to say, oh, well, the best part of my experience was yeah. And then I flip it and say, okay. And if there was one thing that we could have done better, sky's the limit. What would it have been? And I have an answer for everything. Right. I wish it was a bit more affordable. Well, do you hear about our payment plans? Oh, I felt rushed. Oh, well, did you talk to your provider that this is more of a luxurious experience for you? It was a little too slow. Oh, well, next time, let's talk about you're on a lunch break, Right. Communicate with us. I have an answer for everything. But you have to. You have to get the answer out of your clients. So don't ask. It's a theater thing, Right. We just talked about this improv. Don't ask yes or no questions. Ask. What could we have done? Ask. Ask the questions that provide more detail.
- [09:01]
A
Yeah, I love that. Is there a way that you systematize that? Are you kind of just doing that ad hoc, just kind of floating around when you. When you're able, or is that like a consistent every client thing?
- [09:09]
B
I usually focus most on my. My two batches of clients. Right. I've got my first timers. They get their handheld a lot more than my regulars. And then I've got my whale clients. The ones who spend more than 10 grand a year, they get some extra handholding as well. I make sure that the middle of the road clients, though, never fall through the clocks. They're in my automated system, so. Right. Like my first timers, my big whales, they get like grade A tip top experience. The middle of the ground. They still get automated texts and everything. Yeah. I hope they don't feel like it's impersonal, but I am just an office of.
- [09:41]
A
Yeah, you're just going above and beyond to make sure the new people feel your feel that. That is. They're getting that A plus experience and they're welcomed. I think that makes sense. Like, there's no friction in that to me.
- [09:51]
B
Yeah. My biggest pet peeve with med spas out there. And if this is you, I apologize. They don't utilize their front desk to the full capacity. They see their front desk, it's like flight attendants. Right. Everyone looks at a flight attendant and it's like this person serves me dinner no, that person is there to save your life if the plane goes down. Right. Your front desk is not just there to check you in and check you out. Your front desk is. Could be the bloodline to your med spa. First of all. Oh, tangent. Oh, my God, Ricky, buckle up. So they're full on. People neglect the fact that your front desk are paid billboards. So I go through this exercise anytime I do one of my trainings. So which option is better? A hi, welcome to Michael Aesthetics, or hi, welcome to Michael Aesthetics. Are there any packages or rewards that you want to talk about today? I also have our product of the month. Do you want to see what it feels like on the back of your hand? So option B becomes a conversation, it becomes an unintentional sales pitch. If your front desk is just checking people in and out, you're wasting resources. Right. So that's a part of retention as well. We sell product at the front desk because our front desk is trained on our product of the month, who it's good for and who it's bad for. So they don't sell to the wrong person. Right. So definitely don't underutilize your front desk full circle moment. That's also who I use to send those follow up text messages every day as part of the workflow. They click on our we. Everyone has an emr. We click back two weeks. Your Botox should be kicked in in two weeks. We look at all the new patients and those are the ones you get texted. It's only like six or seven new patients per day. It's not a lot, you know, if you're doing it daily, it doesn't become a daunting task.
- [11:21]
A
Yeah, that's amazing. I love that. And that's another one of those little things. The details matter and we're like, oh, our front desk person is fine. They smile, they're good. We provide a great experience. It's okay. No, maybe you're not. Take a look in the mirror. Figure out where you actually have an opportunity for improvement. And those front desk people, they're the constant interaction that all of your patients have. They're the first person that you see. They set the tone for the visit. They're the last person they see on the way out the door. And I think too many med spas, they kind of just are like, okay, I need somebody who's like a minimum wage person, sit at the front desk, do the bare minimum and keep people moving along. But I think there's a lot more that goes into that role, especially if it's done well, do you have any advice for like how to incentivize, like how to find good people in that role and how to keep them?
- [12:04]
B
One of my favorite things is to be honest with them. I always say to my front desk, do you want to have a job next week? And I'm not threatening to fire you for underperforming. I'm letting you know if we don't book clients and, or make sales, we have to shut our doors. Like I'm not telling you that we're moments away from doing that. But if you don't think ahead and try and rebook the patients and, and sell the skin care, if you're not a part of the team, you may be the person, you may be the one of the contributing factors as to why we don't make it to next summer. So, you know, one of my tips is I don't think that business owners are as upfront and brutally honest with their front desk team and just how important they are. If you show them that they have a hand in keeping the doors open and the lights on, they're more likely to work hard for you.
- [12:48]
A
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 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, 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 medspa magicmarketing.com okay, so post appointment, those people are coming in. We've established that we've welcomed them with a receptionist that's doing a really good job of asking open ended Questions. Making sure that there's a conversation happening, not just a simple hello where they sit in the chair and wait for the provider. Talked about the things leading up and the unique way that you use the text messages. Real quick question. I know that a lot of the EMRs have very like a lot of limitations on your pre appointment workflows. Are you building those elsewhere?
- [14:10]
B
So I have a couple options for myself. I have man labor or woman labor and okay, that's a big one. I also have, I use Zapier, which are like little zaps that kind of like run through reports and tell me what to send. I've also. We are. Our phone system is called Weave. So that's kind of what we use to send our text messaging. Nothing is really automated as of now.
- [14:32]
A
Even better. Yeah, I love that. And I think this is another thing. So many people we want to. And there's a place for automation. There absolutely is. You just talked strategically about how you use that to fill the gaps. But then you have a special emphasis on these manual touch points for your whales and your new clients. And I think that's smart. But I think there's this tendency right now where everyone's like how can we AI and automate everything? And this is a customer service based business. So if your whole goal is to automate and AI everything, then all we end up is as factories where there is no personal touch. People aren't buying from people and this business model completely changes. That's not what this is going to be. This is a business where people buy from people and that's the thing that ultimately sets you apart. So figuring out strategically how to use AI and where those personal touches are required is important. And I love that leading up to that those touch points are manual because that also means that somebody's probably got an eye on the responses. So if there's actually a two way communication, there's a conversation happening.
- [15:24]
B
And you mentioned it earlier too. It's all about moving the needle. Right. So like all these personal one off touches are what move the needle. Automation doesn't move the needle. As far as a personal touch.
- [15:35]
A
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Time and a place. But I totally understand that. So post appointment, somebody comes in. Let's say they're. Let's just start with a new Botox client. What are you doing post appointment to make sure those people feel cared for and that they're not just out of sight, out of mind.
- [15:51]
B
I have a couple things. Oh my gosh. So one of them is we have physical post care cards that have, like, what to do after Botox. And they're physical cards that go into someone's purse or handbag. I'm notorious for utilizing samples for my reps. A lot of my new patients will get samples or they'll get a little goodie bag and then afterwards they'll get a text message in seven days, like, hey, your Botox should be at full effect. If not, let me know, we can fix it for you. And then my real secret here is I have a email campaign called the New Client Journey. It's an automation campaign. And I ask people, I'm like, hey, you had Botox, which is like the gateway drug. If you want to learn about our other services, drop your email here and you're going to get seven days worth of seven emails, each highlighting a different one of our services. And to make it interactive, every day in their email, they get a code word. And when you get all seven code words, it makes a sentence. And if you use that sentence, you save 20% off your next visit.
- [16:47]
A
So, like, what a cool idea.
- [16:49]
B
So, like, it makes you want to open every email and then every email is a sales pitch, right? So it's. You had Botox, but did you know about skincare? Do you know about filler lasers? And it sounds complicated, let me tell you. It did take like two full days of work to set up. But it's an automation, right? So all I do now is put in an email and then it does it. It's a trigger. So, I mean, you build the wall once and the wall stands still.
- [17:10]
A
Yeah, we talked about this last time with some of the stuff on social media, but you're. You're like the king of this in my eyes of figuring out ways to make this interactive and to actually get a response from the people that you're sending messages to or people that are seeing your stuff on social media. You don't want these things to be billboards that people just drive by. You want them to be interactive and you want to figure out an incentive to get people to actually lock in and engage. That's a.
- [17:32]
B
Are we tangenting? Is it ok?
- [17:34]
A
Yeah, of course, Absolutely.
- [17:35]
B
Always engaging social media post that has to do a little bit of retention and community. We did our first ever book club. So in late August, we announced we were all going to be reading the boyfriend by Freda McFadden as a community. And I had an Instagram called Mishareads. It's still up if you want to look at it. It'll be up for a couple months. If you want to look at it on the time of this podcast and every Friday for four weeks in September, I posted a discussion question and I said, listen, if you answer the discussion question, you earn two units of Botox. And so 222 people purchased the book. We ended with about 120 people participating in every week and four new clients who were like, I was on the fence about visiting you guys. I don't. But now I have free Botox to use. Of course I'm coming.
- [18:25]
A
So cool.
- [18:26]
B
The goal really wasn't for new client acquisition, it was for retention. It was for conversation. It was to create a sense of community. Everyone else is selling. I'm not selling, I'm educating. I'm starting community movements and that's what makes us stand out. Right. So it was probably to date one of my most successful guerrilla marketing strategies.
- [18:47]
A
Yeah, that's such a cool one. And like you said, figuring out a way to deepen the relationships with your clients, develop community. So it goes beyond just the transaction when they're in the office. Do you do anything with events?
- [18:58]
B
What's an event? I'm just kidding. Yeah, we're actually, I have four this month. So we just did one with. Yeah, we just. I was just being a dick. Sorry everybody. So we just had one with a gym, went really well. So we sponsored a workout class again. So setting up a table outside of a gym is what everybody does. So how did we go further? We sponsored a full class from 11:30 to 12:30. You could sign up on the app for free on the gyms app. And the class sold out. Sold out. Obviously it's free. But because we did that, the gym let us hang out from 7am until after our class. So we got to hang out with four classes worth of people. But then what was cool was the overlap, right? So like 8 o' clock, I was saying hello at 7:50 I was saying hello to the 8 o' clock people going into class. And then at 8 I said hello to the people that got done the 7 o' clock class. And then when the 8 o' clock class, you know what I'm saying, it was always a crisscross of people in the lobby. So there was always like 60 people, which was great. We ended up signing up for our giveaway. 122 people. 100 were brand new. I've been texting with them. So it was a really good, really good investment. So it was a gym class sponsorship. We have a couple salons we're working with and then we're doing. My favorite one coming up is Trunk or Treat. So we're doing the moisturized mummy, we're going to dress up as mummies, and we're going to sell moisturizer. And there's 1500 moms coming. Our swag item, and I'm so excited for it, is hand sanitizer. Because what, mom or dad does not have sticky fingers all the time, Right? So that hand sanitizer has got our logo and phone number on it, and each one comes with a card that says trick or treatment. Your choice. Here's $25 off a treatment, so. Oh, my gosh. I totally forgot about retention. Hold on, I'm almost done.
- [20:56]
A
I feel like this ties. I feel like this ties in, though, so. Yeah, no, keep going. This is awesome.
- [21:00]
B
So as far as retention goes on all of these events, we have QR codes that take you to our treatment quiz. So we developed what's called our Misha treatment quiz, and it's free, public. It's called Opaline, if you want to look it up. Anyone who's listening, it's super cool. You answer five questions, and it helps you decide which of my treatments are right for you. But in order for you to get the treatment results, you need to give me your phone number and email address. Obviously, it's contact wall that has been my biggest referral source lately, but it also turned into my biggest retention source because built into the quiz, you take a selfie and it tells you your skin age. And so what I challenge people is get your skin age, then come get a service, and then do the skin age again and see how much younger you are. So now people are retaking the quiz, finding out what other services they may want, and it's just a cycle.
- [21:53]
A
Yeah, that's so cool. Honestly, I know there are probably a lot of people listening to this podcast. And again, going back to everybody who wants to AI everything everybody wants.
- [22:01]
B
None of that was AI.
- [22:02]
A
I know, but I was gonna say is the other thing people I feel like want to do sometimes in this space is just sit in the office, hire somebody to push buttons, run some ads, and they think that's their marketing plan. I think there are going to be people listening to this. They're like, okay, Chris is on another level. Like, they're thinking about community involvement, how to get engagement with their newsletters, how do we host events that have overlap to not only retain clients, but attract new clients, build deeper relationships or something like the book club. Like, there is so much that can go into marketing your Med spa more effectively that people are just not doing because there's work involved, right? Like there's. It's hard work, there's a lot to do. It's not something that you can outsource and automate. And I think to do marketing really well, you can't outsource and automate the entire process. Just not going to work.
- [22:45]
B
No, I agree. I do love AI though. I'm sure we're going to pivot into this in a second. ChatGPT is my best friend.
- [22:51]
A
Yeah, let's talk about, let's talk about that. How are you using AI in the med spa right now?
- [22:55]
B
Don't tell my actual best friend. I'm getting lunch with her in like an hour. But ChatGPT is my best friend. Okay? So I just, I'm gonna start very hyper specific and this is gonna make you all be turned off from AI, but don't let it. I cannot code to save my life. I've never built an app or I've never hand built a website, but with ChatGPT, I learned a new thing called vibe coding, which is basically, you talk to ChatGPT like a human, you explain what you're looking for and it gives you code and it builds you an app or a website. Well, my current CRM does not have built in retention reports. And I had this vision where I was like, I want to know, I want to upload a list of people who had appointments in these months and a list of people who have appointments in these months. And then I want a list of people who don't have appointments so I can reach out to them. Because that seems brainless, right? I was able to build that on ChatGPT. I was blown away. So that was. It's called vibe coding. It's really fun, but on a regular basis. So that's like the most intense. Let's go into the middle level. If you guys are familiar with ChatGPT, I challenge you to build your own GPT. It's basically a personalized chat GPT, super easy to do. The easiest thing to do is ask ChatGPT how to do it and it'll walk you through it. I built a GPT that speaks like me. I uploaded all of my social media content and I was like, hey, this is how I talk. I want you to talk like me. So now when I use ChatGPT to write a social media post, I don't sound like everyone else out there. I still sound like me because I trained it to sound like me and I did that. By building my own GPT. And finally, if you are just listening to this podcast and are just learning about AI, this is the most basic thing you can do. Hi, I want five days worth of social media content on skin peels. I want to do an educational post, a giveaway post, and a trivia post. Help me and it'll outline it for you. So, yeah, it's a really good crutch. It's not a wheelchair. It won't do the moving for you, but it has a crutch. You can lean on it.
- [24:57]
A
Yeah, it's like a supercharged assistant with high skills.
- [25:00]
B
Yeah.
- [25:01]
A
Yeah, I love that. 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. Shifting gears to the loyalty programs and rewards programs. So you'll run that through Repeat md. I've always. I've talked to people about it. Yeah. You feel like you have some people that don't have good experiences, some people that have great experiences. It seems to me like the trend is maybe the people that lean in and use it. It seems to work pretty well. Can you talk a little bit about how you've used repeatmd and then just.
- [25:53]
B
More generally all the time. Okay, so repeatMD is not a George Foreman grill. So many people invest and think that they can set it and forget it. That may be a dated reference, I guess, but repeatMD is, again, a crutch. It's not a wheelchair. Right. So you can't just sit and wheel. That's probably a really bad reference to use. Let me flip that around a little bit. So Repeat MD is like an assistant that you need to lean into and leverage to make magic happen. It's not going to make magic on its own. So you definitely want to put the effort and energy into setting it up appropriately and then educating your clients on it. So you kind of made this reference earlier. So many people want to outsource their marketing and they think that by getting repeat MD it's an outsource of their loyalty program. You can't outsource loyalty, right? Like repeatMD doesn't know your clientele. It's a tool. So one of my favorite tips and tricks with RepeatMD specifically or any technological tool, Ali Aspire, please stop taking the phone out of your client's hands, right? So many people are like, I'll just check you in, I'll just do it for you. Stop. Walk out from behind your desk, hold the phone in front of them, show them where to touch. And if you show them once, teach a man to fish, he'll fish for life, right? So if you show them how to use the rewards app, they'll make use out of it, right? So the reason our app is so successful is that we have app exclusive promotions. One of my favorite membership perks. So everyone does monthly membership promotions, right? So let's use an example. $50 off chemical peels. If you are a non member, you can visit me in October and you get $50 off a chemical peel. But if you are a member, you get a secret code that'll take $50 off chemical peels on the app and therefore you can buy it in October and use it in November. It gives you flexibility. And why do I love memberships so much? It's loyalty. It's built in loyalty. My memberships are no brainers. They're beauty banks. I did, we did like $3 million on the app over the last two years. And it's all because I trained my client. If my clients listen to this, I swear, I'm so sorry. I trained my clients how to use it. I don't use it for them. I show them how and I make it a no brainer. We're about to do an entire, we're about to do an entire campaign with the app for wizard of Oz theme because Wicked is coming out and we're going to do this whole Scarecrow vibe because getting a membership is a no brainer. Follow the yellow brick road to success. It's, it's going to be cute.
- [28:22]
A
Yeah. No, I love that. Yeah. Like it's a tool. If you use it and lean into it, it can be enormously effective. Do you have like a, with the beauty bank option, do you have like a rough percentage of people that are on membership that are clients?
- [28:36]
B
Wait, you would hear the craziest percentage. Members on average spend 35% more than non members. So my members have girl math mentality where they're giving me $250 a month. So when they come in for their appointment, they've already banked $750. So when I tell them that their bill. When I tell them that their bill is $800, they're like, why do you have 750 banked? Which means I'm only spending 50. You know what? Do that extra Botox today.
- [29:04]
A
Yeah.
- [29:05]
B
Because I've got more money to spend. So that mentality is brilliant. I have about 5,000 clients, and about 500 of them are on memberships. So whatever that math is.
- [29:17]
A
Yeah, cool. So it's still. Because that's one of the things that's come up. It's not like a. It's never really a high percentage for a lot of people that are membership. Do you have any. Do you have any idea as to why that is? Is it just the lack of. People don't want to commit, even if it is the benefit.
- [29:30]
B
I mean, listen, I. I never would want to be single right now. Because apps have made dating nearly impossible. Because the next best thing is only a swipe away. Right. So same thing with med spas. Same thing with, you know, our clients. That's why you have to focus on retention. Full circle moment. People are so afraid of a membership because they're. The next best thing could be just one med spa away. Right. That's one.
- [29:54]
A
Yeah. Two.
- [29:55]
B
I think a big thing is in economic uncertainty. People don't want to get tied up into $400 a month, $300 a month. Even if it's their money, it's not liquid anymore. Right. So now it's my money. And so people are like, oh, what if I need that to put a down payment on something? So I think a lot of it has to do with commitment issues, and they don't want to see their funds tied up.
- [30:18]
A
Yeah, there's like this. I forget there's. I always see this commercial. It's for an app that will check all of your subscriptions and help you. Is that what it is?
- [30:26]
B
Yeah.
- [30:27]
A
I do think there's this overwhelm with, like the last seven or eight years. Everybody has so many subscriptions that you start to feel like you lose control and track of it. So there's become this, like, massive hesitancy to anything that requires me to actually pay for the subscription. And I think that's just kind of the nature of it. Talking about discounting and some of these things like you do with the app and strategies, how do you balance discounting and promotions in a way that doesn't train your existing clients to continue to always wait for a discount. Is it about being inconsistent, irregular, unpredictable? How do you go about thinking?
- [31:00]
B
I think that it's treating everything as if it's new. So I have two frames of mindset like people are become. There are some med spies that have like eight to nine promotions every month and so like everything feels like everything's on promotion. I've got one injectable promotion and one skincare promotion. So my clientele is very much like there will be one thing. And I, to be honest with you, Botox is never my promotion because it's my bread and butter GLP ones, never my promotion. Microneedling, rarely my promotion. I usually do promotions that don't decrease value, but increase value. So it's not $50 off microneedling, it's $50 off a booster to add to your micro needling. It's not $50 off a BBL laser, it's $50 off a second area. So I'm usually doing my promotions that add to a different. That increase the value, increase the spend.
- [31:56]
A
Got it. Cool. Love that. Going back to a comment you made earlier, but this is something that's come up on the podcast quite a bit. You met, you said I say this all the time and you said Botox is the gateway drug. Was your. One of the things this is kind of going off the topic of retention a little bit, but I think it's interesting to get your perspective on is I see a lot of people trying to advertise and promote the services that they want to sell that are maybe like those high ticket, like a multi session microneedling package, the thing where they have a splash of revenue and so they get itchy to advertise that and try to, they try to turn that into the gateway drug. Right. That's going to be the first interaction we have with the patient. What we've seen is that that's really challenging. It's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. For most med spas, like the injectables are your gateway drug. It's your opportunity to establish relationship. They have mass and broad appeal and. And then those clients that trust you for their Botox or their disc board or filler, those are the people that are more likely to buy the expensive microneedling package. Do you feel like there's truth to that? Any difference of opinion on that?
- [32:50]
B
No, I think you're right. I mean I think that if you're gonna do the microbialing package, you can't talk about it once. Circling back to repeat MD a little bit too. And same thing with this microneedling package. You can't talk about it once and expect it to sell. And I think that's where most people fail. Right. They send out one microneedling email and they're like, well, I sold two. I guess it was a dud. Well, yeah, you sold two to the two lowest hanging fruit. But if you had spent Monday talking about microneedling, Tuesday talking about microneedling, Wednesday talking about microneedling, Thursday talking, if you did it for four days and on the fifth day you launched your promotion, I bet you would have sold six, maybe seven. So I think that a lot of people jump right to a promotion rather than hyping up a promotion. So they, they don't take the time to educate, inform, tease. There's a marketing strategy called pas Problem agitate solution. But if you lead with the solution, you don't identify the problem for your consumer. So if you say, get a package of three microneedling for 280.
- [34:01]
A
Yeah. Okay.
- [34:02]
B
But if you start with. Are acne scars and fine lines getting to you? Do you feel like they're getting worse in the fall? Well, the good news is we've put together a package that's going to help you. Right. Like people forget that marketing is a sales pitch.
- [34:16]
A
Yeah. And I think it's easier sometimes with Botox because it's so widely known that like, people are more solution aware. They're bottom of funnel.
- [34:24]
B
Yeah. The problem agitates. The problem agitate are out there already. So the solution is fine. Right. So people already know they've got wrinkles. They already know that it's because they're getting older. Like, you don't have to do any of the work. But that microneedling. Yeah. With the effort in.
- [34:37]
A
Yeah. And they know what Botox is like. Microneedling is not like, if you ask the random person on the street, what is micro needling in an esthetics practice, they're going to struggle to explain it. Everyone would know what Botox is. So I think there is more that goes into it in terms of communication, cadence as it relates to retention. So you've got. Somebody comes in, you've got this. I love the idea of having we have this for ourselves. Right. But like, once somebody is a client, they're in this special drip that's getting them engaged with extra touch points so that. How long is that out of curiosity?
- [35:08]
B
Like for new clients? Which, which specific drip?
- [35:11]
A
Yeah, the drip that's got like the email engagement after a new client. I think it was the new client.
- [35:14]
B
Seven days. Seven days. So it's. Yeah, it's right after your first visit you get offered to be put in the drip. We bait them with the 20% off at the end and then we. It's kicks off two days after your appointment and then it's like Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. It's one way after another.
- [35:31]
A
Yep. So you've got that drip that's kind of going out. Trying to get them to schedule that second appointment. Give them an incentive because we know if people come a second and third time, they're more likely to come a fourth time. Right. We increase retention with every subsequent visit. And you mentioned that your, your front desk is going back two weeks and they're looking at people that came in for Botox. They're following up and checking in with people that came in for those appointments. Those are super important. So many people not doing those things. That's how you serve your clients. Well after that kind of wears out. So you, you basically perform service. You've checked in on them, they feel, they feel heard. They're making sure that you, you feel, they feel like you care about them after that. Are there any additional touch points like, are like, other than like the specials? Newsletter? Social media? Yeah.
- [36:12]
B
Yeah. So the big one is really around the holiday season. We'll run a report. Like I mentioned earlier, the vibe coding who doesn't have an appointment for the holidays? And I run that in September and we send out a hey girl. No pressure, but the holidays will fill up. I don't want you to be stressed. Do you want that appointment now? So that's kind of like our big one right there. And then outside of that, I, I'm kind of hands off. I don't know. Bed, Bath and Beyond drives me nuts. They text me way too much and I don't want to be that person.
- [36:40]
A
So yeah, it's a fine line, right?
- [36:41]
B
A fine, fine line.
- [36:43]
A
Yeah. So do you do any text message communication? Do you like a monthly text with the newsletter or it's everyone right after.
- [36:49]
B
This call, my, my clients are going to get a text for my newsletter because it's the first of the month. I do that right through repeat md but they get one text a month from me.
- [36:56]
A
And then obviously you're really good with social media. So you've got that as kind of like a less in your face like option for client retention that's more reactive.
- [37:05]
B
You have to see it. You've got to be engaged with it.
- [37:07]
A
Do you have any incentive for your existing clients to engage with you or follow you on social. How do you make sure that your clients are actually following you on social media?
- [37:15]
B
So when they get our initial. When you're a brand new client, you get a text message. Welcome to our practice. Here are four things you need to know. One, we give away free Botox every Tuesday on social media. Here's Instagram and Facebook. Two, you get 25 off your first visit. If you sign up for Misha Plus Repeat MD, that's two. Three, you're gonna want Ali Rewards. Here's a link to that. And four, make sure you read our rules. They're linked right here. Like we just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but put it all right there for you. And that's for our brand new patients, our current patients. We frequently do giveaways on Tuesdays and our giveaways are always cycling into like brand new topics.
- [37:49]
A
We're.
- [37:50]
B
We just did an entire photo shoot, a new branding photo shoot. We're relaunching our website in about a month. So all those things combined are ways to get re engagement. Do you.
- [38:01]
A
So with the social media posts and the giveaways, do you advertise in office anyway so people know like, hey, like, if you, if you want to make sure that you're aware of these things, make sure you're following us or does it just kind of happen for you all?
- [38:13]
B
Most just happens for us all. Especially it's that initial text message that really hooks them, you know, like.
- [38:19]
A
Got it.
- [38:19]
B
We have what's called a Smurl counter in my Allentown office. It kind of counts the number of followers we have, but outside of that, no. It's kind of its own running ecosystem.
- [38:29]
A
Most people.
- [38:29]
B
I don't even have signage. I may be that I'm missing out on an opportunity.
- [38:33]
A
Well, I mean, probably not. You guys are doing amazing. Maybe.
- [38:37]
B
But maybe I should, you know, put some signage up.
- [38:41]
A
Do you have any cadence on social media with content types? So like, like how much of it is education versus engagement related versus giveaways? Do you have any sort of like a blueprint? Are you more kind of just building it each month?
- [38:54]
B
No, I kind of have like a kind of set schedule. So it's more info Monday, which is all info dumping trivia Tuesday, which is a giveaway I do use sometimes way back Wednesday, which is like we talk about the upgrades to technology over the years. Like alligator dung used to be used as facial material. Now we use oxy facials so that's a way back Wednesday, Talk back Thursday, I just open the floor for conversation and then you probably have to censor it, but I usually do F the format Friday, which is anything goes. Right. So like we're talking Taylor Swift, Meryl Streep, we're talking about dogs, Furry Friday, Freaky Friday, French Fry Friday, whatever, Whatever fits the the flow.
- [39:34]
A
Last little tidbit. Another one of those things people try to outsource is their social media.
- [39:39]
B
No, stop.
- [39:41]
A
Yeah, right. Like I don't even understand how you do it. At best, best case you're doing, you're still having to be responsible for all the content creation and you're sending it somewhere just to publish it. Yeah, if you're paying somebody to publish like article links and generic stuff, you're just missing a major opportunity to connect and engage with.
- [39:55]
B
Get that on Google and Reddit. People are going to Instagram for images of your office, for your dogs, for your families. So if like the big tip, instead of paying for an agency, pay one of your front desk millennials or gen zers to do it for you.
- [40:09]
A
Yeah, love that. Cool. Chris, any last tidbits on retention, automation or AI that we didn't cover?
- [40:15]
B
Ricky, we have blasted so much content out of people today. Like this is probably two podcasts worth.
- [40:22]
A
Why it was, it was rapid fire.
- [40:23]
B
Yeah.
- [40:24]
A
Just like I did last time we talked. So yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming on.
- [40:28]
B
If you have any follow up questions. Botox by Misha is my Instagram. Like I mentioned. I. I don't get. I'm a key opinion leader for Allergan and Galderma, so I love talking about all things products, but I also talk for repeat md, Weave and Opaline. Those are resources I use in my office all day, every day. So if you ever have questions about those, I got you covered in the book.
- [40:51]
A
Chris. Right.
- [40:52]
B
Marketing Magic. Tis the Season of the Witch. It's on Amazon for $8. It's 15 chapters, it's like 55 pages, but it's basically everything we just talked about in more depth.
- [41:03]
A
Yeah. And we'll make sure all of those are in the show notes, whether you're watching on YouTube or the podcast. Chris, I always enjoy you're. You're what I call a student of the game. You've got so many references and like I just, you know your stuff and so it's always a joy to talk to you. I appreciate you having.
- [41:16]
B
I always forget how much I know until we start talking. Then I'm like Damn, I'm really good at my job.
- [41:20]
A
Yeah, because you're just sitting in there doing your thing in your office and you don't get to. Nobody else cares to talk about this.
- [41:25]
B
It's so crazy because like maybe four years ago, five years ago, I never would have taken a podcast interview on newsletter day, which is today. But now it's such a well oiled machine, right? Like my newsletter goes out at 10, 11 and 12 and then my text message goes out at 12, 12 and like it's just all so well oiled at this point that like, I don't know, it just happens.
- [41:44]
A
Yeah. Well, I'm glad you made time for us. Thank you.
- [41:46]
B
Thanks, Ricky. Have a great day.
- [41:48]
A
Yeah, thanks Chris. We'll see you on the next one. 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.