It’s a good news/bad news situation for medspas right now.
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It’s a good news/bad news situation for medspas right now.
The (really) good news is that in the post-Covid world, self-care has become a non-negotiable part of the daily routine for consumers. Not coincidentally, the medspa has become one of the fastest-growing verticals in the entire wellness industry. Everywhere you look, you find data touting the explosive growth of the medspa industry. That’s a great thing if you happen to own or manage a medspa.
The bad news is that with explosive industry growth and intense consumer demand comes increased competition. Everywhere you look, another new medspa pops up. That’s not such a great thing if you happen to own or manage a medspa. While true that a rising tide lifts all boats, too many boats can quickly make for a crowded sea – and it’s getting crowded pretty fast out there for medspas. The battle to win new clients and retain existing ones is becoming just that – a battle. Simply offering desirable treatments no longer differentiates your business.
So, how do we differentiate our medspas in an increasingly crowded marketplace? As always, through client experience.
Differentiation requires a commitment to delivering a client experience that is flawless from start to finish. Just as importantly, it requires an understanding that client experience is about far more than just excelling at the treatments we offer. Across the industry, many providers still overlook the critical aspects of the client experience that happen before or after treatment.
With that in mind, let’s examine five often-overlooked truths about delivering a great client experience.
1. A flawless experience starts long before a patient walks through the door.
We live in an age when the expectation of convenience extends to every single touchpoint consumers have with a service provider.
Every. Single. One.
If they had a hard time finding you online. If it took them more than a few clicks to book their appointment (sorry, but they’re not calling). If they had a hard time finding your office. If there was no place to park. If you made them wait even though they had a confirmed appointment time.
In other words, if you don’t start thinking about delivering a great client experience until after a patient walks in the door, you’re already too late. Make the investments necessary to ensure your people and your technology deliver a seamless experience covering every part of the journey from their front door to yours.
2. Check-in and check-out are not trivial.
This is an extension of the previous point, but one that deserves a separate call out. The speed and simplicity with which you check clients in and out matters greatly.
Clients expect check-in to be effortless. If they have to spend time at the front desk providing information you already collected at booking, it’s an inconvenience. If they have to re-answer questions they already answered at booking, it’s an inconvenience. If they have to do anything other than book their appointment online to be ready to go when they walk in the door, it’s an inconvenience.
Check-out is much the same. Here’s what patients want to do after receiving a treatment: leave. If they have to linger at the front desk while you toggle between your disparate booking payment platforms, it’s an inconvenience. If they have to swipe their credit card, it’s an inconvenience. If they have to repeat the preferred time of day they’d like to come in for their next appointment, it’s an inconvenience. If they have to do anything other than leave with their payment processed and next appointment already booked, it’s an inconvenience.
What does that mean for your business? It means you need to invest in technology that creates a seamless client experience, including check-in and check-out. Notice I didn’t say you need to invest in booking software. Why? Because booking software isn’t enough. You need software that helps you manage the entire client experience. That means integrated booking and payment processing, personalized client data, email marketing and communication, automated tasks and seamless workflows that enable your clients to come and go without stopping. Invest today.
3. Educating your clients is just as important as treating them.
In the grand scheme of things, this is still very much a nascent industry. We’re only beginning to scratch the surface of how we can grow our businesses and help our clients look and feel their best. This means we have the responsibility (and opportunity) to educate them.
Most new clients come in knowing little more than that they want to take better care of themselves. From there, it’s on us to ensure that prospective and even returning clients understand the link between the treatments we provide and their desire for self-care.
Even if a client doesn’t initially display any particular thirst for information and education, we still need to make every effort to provide it. Why? Because education is essential to the client experience. As a client, you can’t have a great experience if you don’t truly understand why you’re here. Eventually, an educated client is a happy client and an uneducated client is a former client. So, train and prepare your staff to constantly educate.
4. A great treatment isn’t enough to overcome a poor consultation.
- Wait, didn’t we just talk about education?
- Yes, we did.
- So why do we need to talk about consultations?
Because education and consultation are not the same things. Education is about us – what we do and why we do it. Consultation, on the other hand, is about the client. What brought them here today? What is their daily life like? What does their treatment history look like? What are their biggest concerns? What are they hoping to get out of visiting your practice? (Not part of a good consultation: How much are they willing to spend?)
Here’s the reality: a poor consultation will undercut even the best and most effective of treatments. Why? Because it’s no longer about the treatment, it’s about the experience – and there’s no such thing as a great client experience without a thoughtful, personalized consultation. Make sure you put as much time and energy into providing great consultations as you do great treatments – they are of equal importance to your clients and your business.
5. What you do after a client leaves matters as much as what you do while they’re there.
Ok, so your new client found you easily and booked their appointment online with no trouble at all. You provided them with all the resources they need to fully understand what you do and how you do it. They checked in seamlessly and received a thorough and personalized consultation and a great initial set of treatments. Then they processed their payment and booked their next appointment without breaking stride on their way out the door.
- Job done, right? Great client experience
- complete, right?
- Not quite.
A great client experience is a journey, not a destination. We’re never there. We’re never done. If you want clients to keep coming back (spoiler: you do), then what you do after a client leaves matters as much as what you do while they’re in the office. That means staying in communication and keeping tabs on how they’re responding to a given treatment. It means being available to quickly answer questions when they come up. It means sending reminders about their upcoming appointments, letting them know when you have unexpected openings that might be more convenient for them and just generally showing you care about them as people.
This is another area where automating workflows (appointment reminders, birthday messages, etc.) through smart software can help, but ultimately, this is about you and your willingness to go the extra mile to build meaningful and lasting relationships with your clients.
In fact, all of this is ultimately about you. Convenient booking. Seamless check-in and check-out. Commitment to education. Thoughtful consultations. Meaningful relationships. Yes, technology plays a role, your staff plays a role and your clients play a role too. Ultimately though, you are the engine that powers a great client experience. You are the difference between a medspa that stands out from the crowd and one that blends in. Go make it happen!
Skya Jones is a MedSpa Education Manager and in-house aesthetics expert at Boulevard, where she works directly with the company’s staff and MedSpa customers to help design memorable client experiences. Jones has more than seven years of experience in the beauty industry with a specific focus on medical esthetics and more than five years of experience in MedSpa leadership and management. Prior to joining Boulevard, Jones was a department lead for Bobbi Bullock Medical Esthetics and hand-picked as a National Trainer for the Allergan Medical Institute. A certified nurse assistant, her career includes stints as a manager at VitaNovu and a beauty advisor for Kohl’s and spans both clinical and business operations.
