Med Spa Success Strategies: The Law of Demand — How to Sell High-Ticket Med Spa Services

Host: Ricky Shockley
Guest: Lauren
Date: November 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores how the "law of demand" impacts med spa marketing and the sale of high-ticket services like $3,000–$5,000 treatment packages. Ricky and Lauren discuss practical strategies for balancing low-ticket offers (like $25 facials) as entry points versus direct advertising for high-value services, emphasizing building trust and retention to maximize long-term profitability.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding the Law of Demand in Med Spas

• Concept Recap (00:08):
  Ricky introduces how the law of demand—a higher price usually means less demand—applies to med spa service marketing.
  • “There are more people buying a pack of gum at the checkout counter today than are buying a new home… More clients buying that $99 facial than your $4,000 facial rejuvenation package.” —Ricky Shockley [00:44]
• Directly advertising high-ticket services results in fewer leads and higher acquisition costs.
• Lower ticket services generate more interest but may bring in more “deal-seekers” rather than loyal, high-spending clients.

2. Marketing’s True Role: Creating Opportunities, Not Sales

• Marketing should be focused on generating opportunities to build relationships and trust, rather than expecting instant sales, especially for high-ticket packages (01:46).
• Trust is foundational:
  • “What’s required to sell those expensive treatment packages… It’s trust. And we can’t have trust without a relationship.” —Ricky [01:33]
• Marketing’s job: Provide at-bats for the med spa and then rely on in-office experiences, education, and provider-client relationships to turn visitors into high-value, loyal clients.

3. The “Gateway Drug” Approach: Injectables and Low-Cost Facials

• Injectables are recommended as an effective “gateway drug” for new clients—supported by data, not just theory (02:13).
• Example:
  • Some practices use $25 introductory facial offers to flood the schedule, then rely on providers to upsell or cross-sell.
• Marketing creates the relationship, but in-office service quality and education drive trust and conversions.

4. Striking a Balance with Low-Ticket Promotions

• When Low-Price Offers Work ([04:25]):

  • “Times that we have seen it work: one, when we stick to that price point… Two, when you have a stellar provider in office…” —Lauren [04:30]
  • Example: A Florida practice ran a $25, 60-minute facial promo over Christmas and converted ~40% of 200 new clients into recurring patients. Key: Ample time for education and trust-building.
  • Provider involvement (e.g., lead injector greeting each client) greatly increases conversion and retention.

• When Low-Price Offers Don’t Work ([06:00]):

  • Playing with the price (raising above $25) reduces bookings.
  • If providers aren’t engaged or aren’t skilled at cross-selling, upselling falters.
  • If your current patients aren’t buying high-ticket items, new bargain-seekers likely won’t either.
  • “If your provider isn’t already doing a good job pushing them to people who trust them, you’re not going to see it sell to brand new people.” —Lauren [06:40]

5. Trade-Offs and Retention Math

• Retention is lower with lower-ticket offers:
  • $25 facial: ~20% cross-sell/retention rate is typical, while full-priced Botox client retention may be 80%+ ([07:52]).
• Providers may get frustrated serving mostly deal-seekers.
• The “dirt and gold” analogy:
  • “If I gotta go through a bunch of dirt to find the gold… This might have the maximum amount of gold at the end, but we might have to go through 10 times the dirt.” —Ricky [08:55]
  • Full price offers mean less “dirt” (low-quality leads), but lower volume of “gold” (loyal clients).

6. Provider & Owner Alignment

• Owners are often the only ones discussing strategy, while providers end up dealing with “discount shoppers.”
• Communication is essential:
  • “It is on the owner… to explain how that makes sense long term and why we’re doing it… Make sure they understand the why too.” —Lauren [12:03]
• Consider provider feelings, compensation, and workload when running heavy promotions ([11:39], [13:23]).

7. Business Stage, Strategy, and Red Flags

• Startup/new provider? Heavy promotions can fill schedules fast.
  • “I’ve already got somebody on salary that’s got no appointments. I’m going to use this strategy all day.” —Ricky [14:57]
• Established/practices at capacity: May want slower, higher-quality growth.
• Red Flags:
  • Retention from promo offers is too low (conversion to regular clients is poor).
  • Initial visit revenue doesn’t break even on advertising + cost of goods.
  • Frequent provider turnover disrupts retention:
    • “Provider changed five times in 12 months… The strategy kind of falls apart.” —Ricky [15:54]

8. Formulas for a Healthy Offer

• Initial visit revenue must cover or break even on cost of acquisition and cost of goods ([16:42]):
  • “Let’s say your customer acquisition cost is $40. I want my initial visit revenue to probably be $75 at least on average. Right. Because that covers my product cost and my acquisition cost.” —Ricky [17:10]
  • Upsell/cross-sell is critical; if it isn’t occurring, it’s often a sales/service issue, not marketing ([16:15]).

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On realistic expectations for cross-selling:
  “It’s not fair to say, well, these people coming in from the $25 facial ad better buy my microneedling package every day. If your existing clients who already know, like and trust you aren’t buying your big microneedling package, we can’t assume that somebody brand new is going to.” —Lauren [04:53]

• On provider experience:
  “If providers are going to feel frustrated… you want to understand what is the capacity for frustration, what is the percentage and are we comfortable absorbing that?” —Ricky [10:49]

• On customizing by business stage:
  “If I’m pretty much like an established med spa with a pretty full schedule and I don’t have the headroom to grow massively, I might accept slow and steady growth with higher acquisition cost and it might be okay to do that.” —Ricky [15:10]

• Key takeaway:
  “Marketing should create opportunities to develop relationships with quality clients at an effective enough rate… That’s the game you’re playing with marketing for your med spa.” —Ricky [18:55]

Key Timestamps

| Time | Segment / Topic | |----------|------------------------------------------------| | 00:08 | Introduction to the law of demand in med spa marketing | | 01:33 | Trust and relationships as prerequisites for high-ticket sales | | 02:11 | Why injectables and facials are the “gateway drug” for new clients | | 04:25 | When low-ticket offers work—and why | | 06:00 | When $25 facials don’t convert, and why | | 07:52 | Retention rate realities for low-ticket vs high-ticket journeys | | 08:55 | “Dirt and gold” analogy: maximizing opportunities, sifting through leads | | 11:39 | Provider alignment and transparent communication | | 14:54 | Choosing your strategy based on practice maturity / goals | | 16:42 | Financial formulas and the break-even rule for promo offers | | 18:55 | Closing takeaways and practical summary |

Summary Takeaways

• The law of demand underpins why low-ticket offers generate more leads but require robust systems to convert and retain valuable clients.
• Effective marketing creates opportunities, not instant sales; providers must turn opportunities into high-value relationships with education, service, and trust.
• Low-ticket “gateway” offers remain effective—if the math works, providers are onboard, and post-offer conversion systems are strong.
• Success depends on matching strategy with your business stage, provider capacity, and retention processes—and being honest about the trade-offs involved.

If you want more clients willing to invest in high-ticket treatments, you’ll need to start with relationship-building at a lower transactional point and let trust—and your team—do the heavy lifting.