Aesthetic Patient Consultation, Cosmetic Patient Marketing

The Consultation – From the Patient’s Point of View

Introduction/Survey

For you to enjoy your greatest amount of patient satisfaction, it’s imperative you know what your patients want. It would also be helpful to know what they think about you and your staff and how best to set expectations so your patients are happy with their results.

To help you discover the inner workings of the aesthetic patient’s mind, I personally interviewed many aesthetic patients who had had minimally-invasive as well as surgical procedures to enhance their appearance. I wanted to learn, first-hand what they were looking for when searching for an office and physician to perform cosmetic enhancements. The majority of those interviewed were female with the medium age being 44 years old and they were scattered throughout the US.

My objective was to determine trends and commonalities so here are some of my findings:

The main reason both genders were considering cosmetic procedures was to improve their looks so they felt better about themselves. So, in essence, they were buying hope. Hope that you would make them look better so they would feel better;
90% of the time, the confidence in the physician’s ability and positive staff interaction were more important than price;
86% of them referred at least two other people to that practice (hair stylists were the biggest referral sources);
40% researched their procedure on the Internet ahead of time so they felt well-informed;
75% went on multiple consultations before deciding (the majority of those who went on one consultation did so after a glowing recommendation from their friend, family member or colleague;
80% watched Extreme Makeover, Doc 90210 and live surgeries and treatments on the Discover Channel so they felt they knew what to expect. They also were more willing to openly discuss aesthetic enhancement since it was being openly promoted on TV;
Long waiting times were a reoccurring complaint but forgivable if the patient got a good result; and
The better the staff, the less time the physician had to spend with the patient during the consultation.

Survey Conclusion/Findings

While the above responses were interesting, it was apparent I needed to probe further to see if I could come up with some generalities that could define what made up a good practice. But, this is what I learned instead. The aesthetic patients’ preferences varied greatly. These aesthetic patients are consumers who think very differently. And, their perceptions were so varied such as:

While some thought an aesthetically gorgeous office indicated pride and success; others thought it was over the top, intimidating and made them feel uncomfortable;
While some thought the doctors did not spend enough time with them and felt rushed; other patients thought too much time with them made them wonder why the doctor wasn’t busier; and
While some thought the physician was so thorough explaining the various procedures available, others felt oversold and confused with so many options.

I probed further and asked, bottom line, why they chose that particular physician over the others. The consistent answer over and over was that the patient felt a “connection” with that physician. Their “gut” feeling or intuition was telling them this was the right physician for them. They had developed rapport and trusted that that particular physician understood them and would give them the best possible result.

What is Rapport?

If rapport is so vital, it’s important to understand it. It’s difficult to define and you either have it with your patient or you don’t. Rapport is that bond you build with your prospective patient. It’s the single most important personality skill an aesthetic physician needs to be successful. You build rapport through words, tone and gestures as well as commonalities since:

       7% of what is communicated is through your words
       38% through your tone of voice
       55% through your body language – facial expressions and gestures

How do you Create Rapport?

The aesthetic patient wants to feel special - period. When a patient is spending their own money and time on elective cosmetic enhancement, they want to be treated respectfully, professionally and kindly by every person they encounter in the practice. They also want to be heard and understood. There is an old saying that says before you can be understood, you must work to understand and that is truly the case here.

We build rapport by creating or discovering things in common with the patient. That can be as simple as talking with the patient about who referred them to your practice or learning more about their profession and their family. The point is to show interest in the prospective patient as a person first; patient second. You can easily get this information from the patient information form sitting right in front of you. Just glance at it before entering the exam room.

Another way to build rapport is to mirror them. That means mimicking your patient’s breathing patterns, posture, tonality and gestures in a discreet way. People feel comfortable with people they believe are like them and mirroring will make that happen. So, if the patient talks fast, you talk fast. If the patient talks loud, you talk loud; if the patient is meek and quiet, you slow things down. Use the same terms and phrases the patient uses and be sure to avoid any jargon that the patient won’t understand.

If done correctly, the patient will feel as if they have found their soul mate, someone who understands and who can relate to them. That’s when you have developed rapport and the patient knows you are the right physician for them.

Educating Your Patient and Setting Expectations

Again, when I asked the patients in my survey how they knew their expectations were being met, their concerns were being addressed and recommendations were explained, I got different answers. Why?

Because there are three different learning styles – visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Visual people want to see the results; Auditory people want to hear about the results; and, Kinesthetic people want to touch and feel the results. All of us have elements of all three modes but usually one mode dominates our decision and learning processes and how we perceive things. So, you want to present your message in a way that gets through to the patient in the way they understand the best.

The easiest way for that to happen is to include all three modes of learning during each patient consultation. You want to present something visual, something auditory and something kinesthetic. Show them things, let them hear things and attach feelings and emotions to them. Some suggestions would be during the consultation with the patient, use your hand, your mirror and a Q-tip to show patients facial skin lifting procedural results.

Show them before and after photo albums of patients who were striving for similar results; especially those who share the same age, gender and ethnicity. By the way, computer imaging was overwhelmingly desired for illustrating results specific to the patient. And, videos of procedures and taped patient testimonials on a small VCR or on your computer in your consult room were well received, especially when explaining complex procedures.

A majority of the prospective patients were interested in speaking with your former patients who were satisfied with their own result. And, for kinesthetic (touch) be sure your patient information packets are handed out to the prospective patients so they can rifle through pages that include any press you’ve received, articles you’ve written, your credentials, your practice brochure – anything they can touch and feel.

The Perfect Aesthetic Patient Consultation

My Quote: “Just as you try to tailor your treatment to fit the unique features of your patients, tailoring your consultation to your patient’s unique personality will increase your closing ratio.”

While there is no perfect consultation that works 100% of the time, there are certain elements needed to carry out a successful consultation more often than not. The following elements are from the patients’ perspective and based on their own experiences of what made up a good consultation:

Knock on the door gently, greet the patient by name, introduce yourself while looking him/her in the eye and shaking hands;
Spend 30-60 seconds learning more about the patient as a person. Comment on their occupation or perhaps the person who referred them and you can get that information from your patient information form;
Hand them a mirror while asking an open-ended question such as “What can I do for you today?” and “What brings you in to see me?”
Listen – while they tell you - nod, look them in the eye and take notes so they know you are listening and understanding;
Now, ask more open ended questions to determine if the patient’s expectations are reasonable, the results can be reached safely and they are rational about the process;
Determine where they are in the process. A great question to ask is “What is most important to you when picking an aesthetic physician?” or “What are you looking for in a cosmetic physician?”. You can also ask, “Have you talked with anyone else and, if so, what can I tell you that you don’t already know?”
Be sure they have completely and thoroughly relayed their concerns to you before you respond to them. It can be very tempting to interrupt with your recommendations but you’ll get their attention much faster if you first give them your undivided attention;
Always show respect for the patient. Even though you are the expert and know more, arrogance does not sell. If you come across as demeaning or condescending, you’ll drive the prospective patient away.
While explaining how you would address their concerns, use words a layperson understands, be concise and keep it simple. A confused patient will decide to do nothing so don’t offer too many choices;
Repeat back briefly to the patient the main points you heard such as intended outcomes and the patient’s concerns. Ask them if you have left anything out;
Now, qualify and differentiate yourself. The prospective patient needs to know you are the best physician in comparison to the competition. Perhaps you gave a talk on this recently or wrote an article on this. The point is to show your expertise;
Look them in the eye to let them know you are confident, skilled and experienced. You have performed many of these surgeries or treatments with excellent results and you will do the same for this patient;
Reassure them that you can meet their expectations. Let them know you understand their concerns and fears so they trust you and your recommendations;
Remember there is no room for bad-mouthing your colleagues. It puts you in a bad light and makes you look worse than your competition;
Prepare and rehears a closing statement that sounds natural. Tell the patient you look forward to working with him/her to help them look their best and you hope to see them again soon.

Conclusion

By treating every single prospective patient as a person first, patient second, you are well on your way to a good patient consultation. Developing rapport, gaining trust and reassuring your patients that you are the right physician for them will assure you growth and success. It will also increase your closing ratios as well as your word-of-mouth referrals.

To learn more about the mind of the aesthetic patient, you can obtain a copy of Catherine Maley’s book, “Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients are Saying” at www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com or (877) 339-8833.