By: Catherine Maley, MBA

Author, Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients are Saying     http://www.cosmeticimagemarketing.com/book.php

Look through your local newspaper and you will see many, if not several, ads promising a more beautiful body with liposuction, a more attractive face with Botox and wrinkle fillers, fuller breasts, less hair and it goes on and on. As if that’s not confusing enough, some are from core specialties in private practice but some are from “rejuvenation centers” run by vascular surgeons or medi-spas run by business people who have a designated medical director who might be a family practice physician or it could even be a salon/spa who has a traveling physician show up periodically to perform treatments and leave.

As a consumer, how in the world do you choose who is the right “health care professional” for you? As a health care professional, how in the world do you grow your patient database given the highly competitive nature of the industry? The answer is you differentiate yourself from your competition. Differentiating yourself from the pack will help you to grow your practice, increase your revenues, maintain your fair share of the market, attract better patient and beat your competition.

Why do I have to differentiate?

I’ll tell you why. This is a very lucrative industry that attracts all types of professionals. You are no longer just competing against your colleagues that you attended medical school with. You are now competing with the core specialties, the non-core specialties as well as corporations who see this as a major revenue-growth industry. And, the pie got a lot bigger thanks to the hit TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, the Swan and the Discovery Channel. They took the stigma away from cosmetic enhancement so the public is much more at ease discussing and participating in this once taboo subject. And, lastly, the Baby Boomers are aging. They not only want to look as young as they feel, they have the disposable income to make that a reality.

Differentiation avoids price competition and creates an image in the consumers’ mind that, for example, lasers are better at your office than the competitors.

All of this means that you better find your niche market and cater to them or your competitors will do it for you.

Answer the Question – Why you?

This is an important question to ask you. Can you answer it confidently? If not, start here. Stop and consider why you are the perfect choice for your patients? What are you doing that is unique that most of your competitors don’t offer?

If you are struggling with this question, survey your patients. They will tell you. Ask them directly, or through an anonymous communication, why they choose to come to you and not the others. You can mail a survey to them and have them return it anonymously using a postage-paid envelope. You can even hand them a survey when they are leaving their appointment since their experience with you will be fresh. You’ll get the most candid response if they know their comments are confidential. Here are some questions to ask them?

o What do you like most about coming here?

o What do you like least about coming here?

o On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best, how would you rate the staff?

o On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best, how would you rate me the physician?

o What could we do better?

o Have you gone to anyone else for the same treatments you get here?

If so, how do we compare to them?

- Which procedures do you have done here?

Here’s the important step. Now that they have told you, capitalize on that vital information. If they say you are the best because you spend so much 1-on-1 time with them and really get to know them, be sure that is highlighted in the initial telephone call and in your external marketing messages. Or, if they say you are the gentlest Botox and wrinkle filler injector, note that in all of your communications. These are “hot buttons” for many prospective patients and should be highlighted.

How do I differentiate myself?

You differentiate yourself through your community, technology, heritage, value, service or affinity (treating those who can afford the best (celebrities/athletes).

You develop a unique personal brand that will make your patients choose you over your competition. You always answer the question “Why You?” even if they didn’t ask. You cater to your preferred target market’s most important needs. Differentiating means defining who your perfect target market is and then catering to them and their interests better than everyone else. It’s determining what’s most important to them and giving it to them consistently. It’s also about reminding them why you versus the others since most of us are tempted to go elsewhere when wooed away by price. It’s your reputation and delivering on a promise. It’s not being “everything to everybody”; but rather, “the absolute best to a chosen group”.

Your patients learn to trust your brand and expect the same experience and result – every time. As long as they get that, they will be passionate about trusting you to give it to them, they will tell their friends, and they will be less apt to wander off to “check out” your competitors.

Specific Differentiators:

There are so many factors that can pull you away from the fray. Here are several to consider:

Specialist in one procedure

Advanced/uncommon technology

Extensive experience

Exceptional facility

Superior results

Caring personality

WOW experience

Convenience or accessibility

Physician personally call patients night of treatment/procedure

Waiting times are short

You remember patient names and details like they were family

Your staff also treats them like family

You with especially careful with fearful patients and ensure a painless

treatment or procedure

You well known around your community

You are from the town you practice in

Special credentials or professional memberships

So, communicate and leverage the services you provide that your competitors don’t. Services that are meaningful to your preferred patients such as taxi service, longer hours, financing plans, and post-op services. Then you and your practice must understand and consistently sell those services as your personal brand. Be sure those unique points are integrated into every aspect of the patient experience including your signage, patient welcome package, advertising, public relations, on-hold messaging and new patient calls scripting.

Summary

Since you cannot be everything to everybody, choose your own preferred patient and then cater to their specific needs. You will be more likely to succeed, increase your revenues and enjoy the process so much more.

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Authored by Catherine Maley, MBA

President and Strategic Marketing Strategist

Cosmetic Image Marketing

Her firm specializes in growing aesthetic practices using advertising, PR and customized marketing strategies.

For more free tips, resources and strategies, visit Catherine online at http://www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com or call her at (877)339-8833.

Cosmetic Surgery Loans are given for variety of the purposes like breast augmentation, face lift, liposuction, eyelid tuck, brow lift, tummy tuck, laser resurging, and chin augmentation. Cost of each such procedure varies a lot, but usually it ranges from $1500 to $10000. This amount for a loan can be availed as unsecured loan, without offering anything for collateral. Thus, the borrowed amount has no risks for the borrowers.

The loan repayment can be made in short-term. You can return the loan in few months to 5 years, keeping the borrowed amount and your repayment ability in mind. It is advisable to first consult your surgeon, who can clearly tell you about the costs, and then you can borrow the amount accordingly. This will save you from borrowing excessive loan. These loans can also be availed with a bad credit history like late payments, defaults, arrears and CCJs.

It would be prudent to use the internet for comparing as many offers of cosmetic surgery loans as you can. Note down their interest rates for your type of circumstances and take note of additional charges as well for finding out a suitable offer.

Cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly popular day by day. It is no surprise then that there are several agencies that are cropping up that provide loan and other assistance for the same. Cosmetic enhancements can seldom be covered by medical insurance.

Before applying for a cosmetic surgery loan, one should be sure of exactly what is needed. One must ensure the authenticity of the agency as well as the surgeon. One very useful source for finding cosmetic surgery loans is the World Wide Web. There are several agencies on the internet that offer cosmetic surgery loan, moreover, it is extremely easy to compare and contrast the various rates of interests that the different agencies have to offer.

Cosmetic surgery loan can be up to £25000. The monthly installments can be negotiated with the opposite parties. The interest rates charged on cosmetic surgery are generally lower than those charged for credit based loans. The repayment period is generally between twenty four and sixty months. The interest rate however varies according to ones credit score. Incase someone has a lower credit score, the rate of interest offered is much higher as the lender is afraid of losing his investment. The better the credit score, the better is the interest rate as the safer the lender feels about lending his money.

There are two types of cosmetic surgery loan, secured and unsecured.

Secured cosmetic surgery loans will use your property as collateral whereas unsecured ones don’t necessitate any collateral. The rate of interest for secured ones is much higher as compared to the rate of interest for unsecured cosmetic surgery loans as the lender feels safer with the former.

Thanks to cosmetic surgery loans, cosmetic surgery or rather good looks are no longer restricted to people with overflowing wallets. It is now within the grasp of the common man.

From television shows such as “The Swan” and “I Want a Famous Face” to movie stars emblazoned on magazine covers, society is always bludgeoning you with images of cosmetically enhanced people. However, just because cosmetic surgery is an elective procedure does not mean that medical malpractice doesn’t occur.

Kinds of Procedures

There are many cosmetic surgery procedures that can result in injury and even death. Eve basic operations such as Botox are subject to negligence. Common cosmetic malpractice lawsuits stem from aesthetic surgeries such as:

· Breast augmentation surgery

· Liposuction

· Forehead lifts

· Hair replacement

· Laser surgery

· Tummy tucks

· Eyelid surgery

Most of these are basic procedures. However, negligence during them can cause problems to arise that result in you needing additional, costly work done to repair the damage.

Do Your Research!

Cosmetic surgery malpractice was brought to the forefront by the relatively recent death of Donda West, rapper Kanye West’s mother. Donda died following numerous cosmetic surgery procedures; only after her death was it brought to light that her surgeon was not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery to perform these procedures. Unfortunately—and very troubling—is the fact that this is neither rare nor unique.

If you’re considering cosmetic surgery, here are some essential tips to ensure your safety:

· Consult with your personal physician to make sure that your healthy enough to undergo the surgery

· Check that the American Board of Plastic Surgery certifies your surgeon. If they are, you can rest assured that he/she has graduated from an accredited medical school and completed at least five years of additional training as a resident surgeon

· Research your doctor’s hospital affiliations. If he/she is recognized by a hospital that means their work is held accountable by another organization

· Talk to some of the surgeon’s previous patients

· If an anesthesiologist will be used, do research on him/her. Anesthesia malpractice is a common culprit of medical malpractice lawsuits

Are You The Victim of Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice?

Here’s what you shouldn’t do:

· You don’t need to live with inferior and/or unwanted results

· You don’t need to be bullied into paying for another procedure to fix your surgeon’s mistakes

· And if you do need surgery to repair a surgeon’s negligence, you should never return to the same surgeon

If you have suffered as a result of a mistake during cosmetic surgery, it is important to let other people know. A cosmetic surgery malpractice lawsuit not only punishes the negligent surgeon, but can alert others to the dangers you suffered.

That’s why when it comes time to put your practice online, it’s critical, that you put as much effort into the online design and marketing of your website, as you do each and every one of your patients. Your patients don’t come to you for a “template” or to look like everyone else. They come to be themselves, but to express on the outside how they see themselves on the inside. The question you need to ask yourself becomes “Do I want the online reflection of me and my practice to look just like hundreds of other surgeons out there?” The answer to that question, of course, should always be no. With 70% of the U.S. population currently going online first to research everything from cars to plastic surgeons what do you think is the best way to capture those patients? A template website that looks just like everyone elses? Or a custom site that fits you, your practice, and really shows off what makes you unique?

Now when it comes to the marketing of your plastic surgery practice the first place you need to look is online. Why online? Well, online marketing, including search engine optimization and pay per click, have consistently shown that they have the lowest cost per acquisition of ANY form of marketing. Yes ANY. When you consider the cost of a single custom website with a proper SEO package it is about the same cost as a typical monthly direct mail bill. It’s at this time that the cost savings begin to become quite clear.

Perform a search for your location and what you offer, for example “Dallas Rhinoplasty” or “Los Angeles Breast Augmentation” you will see that there are currently surgeons there vying both in the pay per click as well as natural organic listings. They know that to compete in the world of plastic surgery you need a strong online presence and you need it today.

In closing you know you need to set yourself apart from your competition. You know you need to represent yourself in the best possible light to your potential patients and you now know some of the best ways to accomplish those tasks.

You need a custom website, or redesign, a complete online marketing plan that includes organic search engine optimization, pay per click management, and online reputation. As well, you need to work closely with the company you choose to accomplish these Tasks. All in order to really convey who you are to your potential patients, and truly define your practice online. When it comes to plastic surgery websites you are only as good as your design. So make sure that you’re always the best in your area. Both online and off.

People who avoid mirrors because they don’t like what looks back at them or even if they just don’t like one particular thing about themselves, often this feeling stems from the person’s childhood. Chances are, that person was made fun of because of this particular thing and it’s bothered them all through their adulthood. This insecurity brings people year after year onto the cosmetic surgeon’s table to have the next cosmetic surgery procedure performed.

Cosmetic Surgery Improves Self Esteem
Cosmetic surgery procedures can literally transform people. It can transform not only in appearance but in attitude and personal outlook, as well. Cosmetic surgery procedures can have magnificent results on a person’s self esteem. For this reason, more and more people are electing to have their insecurities wiped away by having a cosmetic surgery procedure performed.

It should be noted that cosmetic surgery procedures aren’t cheap. There are payment options, however, and nowadays, they are making it easier and easier for the average person to have a cosmetic surgery procedure performed. There are cosmetic surgery procedure loans in place to help you cover the cost. Ask your local cosmetic surgeon about payment plans to suit your needs.

So, if you look in the mirror and you don’t like what you see, visit your local cosmetic surgeon and just ask some questions. It wouldn’t hurt. Many people do it and love the results. Just be sure that this is what you want to do as cosmetic surgery cannot be reversed in most cases. It can change your life. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s very true. But if having a cosmetic surgery procedure performed will help you feel better about yourself, then go ahead and have it done. There’s no sense in spending any time feeling bad about yourself, you have life to live.

The best candidates for breast augmentation are women who are looking for
improvement, not perfection. If you’re physically fit and realistic in your
expectations, you most probably are an excellent candidate. And with the help of a plastic surgeon, all of your expectations can come true, taking into concideration that the surgery must be what is best for your body, and to minimalise any further risk.

Breast augmentation is a procedure that can help patients that had babies, that want to look fuller, or for patients that after breast reconstruction want to look natural again. This is why it is such a common surgery, because every woman now has the chance to improve her appearance, and to feel like a woman. The surgery takes anywhere from 1 to 5 hours. Nowadays the risks that this type of operation implie are minimal and the results are more then satisfying.

A breast implant is a silicone shell filled with salt-water or silicone gel. They can be round or anatomically shaped. They also can have a
smooth or textured shell. Ask the plastic surgeon to show you samples of saline implants, and also discuss with the plastic surgeon  the placement of the implant, and where to locate the incision. These two points are of extreme importance, you as well as your doctor can agree on the pros and cons of the different choices, and which would be the right one for your particular case.

Breast augmentation is a procedure which makes your life better, but only if it is done by a plastic surgeon who fully understand your expectations, and helps you make the right decision. A plastic surgeon must not do whatever the client wants, he must do what is best for every patients health. Therefore patiens should understand that this is a sensible procedure, which can be a real success only if is made proportionally with your body and your health.