SPECIAL REPORT: 20 Top Clinic Owners Reveal: This Is How We Scaled Our Aesthetic Practices

How do the top aesthetic clinic owners build thriving practices?

What strategies do they use to get started... get known... and then expand and dominate their markets?

For the past few months, I’ve been asking those exact questions on my podcast, How I Scaled My Aesthetic Clinic.

And 20 of the best-known, most innovative clinic owners in the world have been generous enough to share their answers.

I’ve collected 35 of their most intriguing insights in an eBook, covering:

...Tried-and-tested marketing tips....

...Unusual advice on how to hire the best staff and create a well-run practice...

...And essential strategies to increase your profitability and stand out in a crowded market.

Below is a selection of their top tips to scale your clinic. To read more, Click here to grab the full guide and get all 35 insights.

1. Give patients personalized gifts to encourage referrals

Referrals and reviews are key to driving business in any aesthetic clinic. So how do you drive them systematically?

Rather than instituting a formalized referral program - where patients are promised a gift card (say) for every referral - Dr Greg Buford, owner of Beauty by Buford in Colorado, surprises patients with personal gifts.

So for example, if his staff have noticed that a patient who left the clinic a review is coming in, they might organize a free treatment for them or send them a bottle of wine.

“We want to surprise and shock them - making them happy without them knowing to expect it,” says Dr Buford.

“We try to personalize it as much as possible. I have to laugh when companies give me baseball caps with their logo on it. I’m not your billboard.

“It’s about thinking really thoughtfully about your client, and what they like and who they are. That fosters goodwill.

“It’s really saying thank you for your referral, thank you for being a good client. I don’t think enough businesses do that.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW:?Dr Gregory Buford: How to Build World-Class Customer Service

2. Ask for referrals directly?

Emily Tryon built a $1 million business in under 5 years - mostly by word-of-mouth. But she didn’t leave it to chance. She systematically generated the referrals which helped her scale.

“When my patient would come in and we’d had a delightful appointment together, they’d say to me they’re so happy with their outcomes,” she relates. ”I’d say, ‘Fantastic’.

“And I would reach over and grab my notepad and my pen, and ask, ‘Can you think of three people in your life who would love to feel as good as you do right now... And may I have their names and phone numbers and give them a call?’

“It was fascinating to me how many people were willing to say, ‘Absolutely - call my friends, Susie and Sally and Jane. I’ve been talking to them about you anyway, so they won’t be surprised when you call.”

In the early years of the business, Esthetic Solutions MedSpa in Scottsdale, Arizona, she made the calls herself. Later she handed this task over to an assistant.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: ?Emily Tryon: Building a $1 million aesthetic clinic in less than 5 years

3. Create a business plan for every new treatment??

Dr Ravi Jain, owner of the prestigious Riverbanks Clinic on the outskirts of London, credits his early success to developing a solid business plan, which gave him focus and direction.

He says it “felt like a fortune at the time, but was the best investment I ever made.” And he still updates that plan regularly.

But for your clinic to really be profitable, he recommends developing a business plan for every single new treatment you bring into the practice.

“We do an analysis of whether or not there’s a market for a new treatment. We have to know what the return-on-investment and profitability.

“If you’re going to invest in technology that might cost you tens of thousands, you need to understand how quickly you’re going to get that money back” - and of course, put a plan in place to make that happen.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Dr Ravi Jain: 40% increase in sales through email marketing

4. Re-evaluate your business every 2 years

The aesthetics industry changes very fast - and if your clinic isn’t adjusting, it’s probably slipping behind.

That’s why Victor Snyders, the owner CEO and co-owner of Renewal Institute Clinics in South Africa, runs a re-invention exercise every 2 years.

“We say, forget about what we’ve got, who our employees are, who the patients are, our locations - forget everything. All we’ve got is some money. What would we do? And then we re-invent our business. And we compare that picture to what we have.”

This allows the senior management team to double-check that the business is still serving the owners’ needs, the community’s needs and the planet’s needs.

“We were the pioneers, at the cutting-edge, which is nice, but the downside is that you have to stay at the cutting-edge,” he says. “So you constantly have to look and say, are we doing things in a way that has actually become out of mode, or are there now better solutions?

“It requires you to look at re-investment in new technology and anything new. We’re constantly asking that, but we do it in a formalized, structured way every two years.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Victor Snyders: Why you should reinvent your aesthetic clinic every two years

5. Create unique packages that differentiate your practice????

The #1 reason why people struggle: “They’re just typical,” says Dr Stephen Mulholland, owner of Canada’s largest laser skin center.

“They have nothing different to communicate - no story... So how compelling will they be on social media or other channels? If you market an average product, you’re going to have average-to-less-than-average outcomes.”

And critically, your technology is not going to be a differentiator unless it’s really new, because many of your competitors are using the exact same machines as you.

“So you’ve got to do things that differentiate,” says Dr Mulholland.

“You’ve got to bundle things uniquely - say CoolSculpting plus a radiofrequency treatment and some secret sauce you don’t quite disclose, that you can communicate about why you’re different. You’re not just a CoolSculpting or body contouring center, and here’s why... Or you’re not just an injector - here’s the difference.

“Differentiation takes imagination, sometimes skill, and you have to invest in the right technology, but technology alone won’t differentiate you because everyone can buy at the same time.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW:?Dr Stephen Mulholland: Stand out in a crowded market by crafting your unique story

6. Be transparent about your numbers with your staff?????

The numbers in your business are often treated as top-secret. But Dr Benji Dhillon, co-owner of Define Clinic in the UK, takes the opposite approach - he’s extremely transparent about them with his team.

“The clinic revenue and targets, how much we’ve made in a week, how much we make in a day - these are not hidden numbers,” he says. “Everyone knows that number in the clinic.”

The reason? “Once they know that, they’re with you on the journey.”

Your staff feel more invested in your clinic and more trusted.

It is also very motivating when they know exactly how much your clinic is aiming to make - and even what your shortfalls are.

“Give people definite objectives to hit - people love exceeding a target or a goal,” says Dr Dhillon.

?LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Dr Benji Dhillon: How I combined aesthetic medicine with cosmetic dentistry

7. Hire people who are active on social media

One criteria most practices never consider when hiring staff or bringing in new partners? How active they are on social media.

For Dr Jonathan Johnson of Capital Aesthetic and Laser Center in Washington DC, this is part of the mix if you’re serious about promoting your treatments and your clinic.

“We focus on working with providers who have great engagement with their patients on social media, because social media is king.

“We find those providers who have great engagement, and are doing great not-for-profit work and great community-based work, as well as great healthcare work. That’s who we want to partner with.”

?LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Dr Jonathon Johnson: Running two businesses under one roof

8. Get job candidates to shadow you in-clinic ?

It can be difficult to know whether someone is going to be a good team member from a resume and interview. So Haley Johnston-Wood in Tennessee asks viable candidates to spend a day in the clinic, shadowing her and other members of staff.

“Like my grandmother said, you don’t know someone unless you go on vacation with them or if you live with them. Here too, you want to live with them for a bit,” she says.

It’s an opportunity to see whether the candidate will fit in with the clinic’s culture.

And, says Haley, “I’m looking to see if they’re going to get on my nerves. People can put their best face forward for an hour, but if you put them into an environment, you’ll pick up on something [if it’s wrong].”

But equally, she adds, “it’s also an opportunity for the practice to sell itself for this person, because when people are in the hiring process, it’s not just interviewing someone to take up a role, but that person has a decision to make. If you really want the best people, you need to sell your practice to them as well.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Haley Johnston Wood: Create your own print magazine to convert new patients

9. Pre-sell your treatments several weeks before your Open House event

For Dr Brad Calobrace, owner of CaloAesthetics Plastic Surgery Center in Louisville, Kentucky, the annual Open House is one of the key events of the year.

“People have to see you. When they meet you, there’s a whole different level of relationship. So any way you can get in front of their face is important,” he says.

His practice makes the event lively, hiring disc jockeys and music. All employees are circling, and attendees are offered hors d’oevres and champagne. And attendees are able to consult with his staff and book services, as well as buy from many of his vendors - who are partners in the event, helping to pay for it.

The Open House typically attracts 1,500-2,000 people and generates over $3 million in sales. But the key, says Dr Calobrace, is to sell most of the treatments before the event.

“You can only sell so much on one day, and it’s busy and we want people to have fun. So we do pre-sales two weeks prior to the event. They can fill out their order form online and just send them to us. We only sell about 25% during the Open House event.”

By selling so much over the course of just a couple of weeks, the clinic builds up loyalty, because patients become committed to coming in for treatments over the course of the year.

And you can still run an Open House during Coronavirus, in a tent or marquee outside and with staggered entrances.

?LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Dr Brad Calobrace: Building a $20 million practice in a smaller town

10. Plan your social media with a mood board?

Many clinics plan their social media updates only loosely - if at all.

Drs Hanna and Martin Kinsella, who between them have more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, curate their posts carefully.

They say that a good mix of material is needed to draw people to your page - and that you should map out your posts well in advance:

“We invest a lot of time in strategy with social media. We’ve got mood boards and [plan] what’s going to out there and how are we going to make it interesting for the followers,” says Hanna, owner of Kiln Lane Dental in the UK.

“If you’re following an aesthetic clinic, it might get a bit boring if it’s just all before-and-after pictures, or if you’re just looking at written testimonials.

“You need something to keep the followers interacting with you.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW:?Drs Hannah and Martin Kinsella: Give your clinic long-term resilience by diversifying your treatments

11. Not all your marketing has to promote your treatments directly

Most clinics focus their marketing on their treatments. Carrie Brinton, owner of Elase Medical Spa, with 4 locations in Utah, has supplemented that “normal” content with a podcast which has very little to do with beauty or aesthetics.

She shares stories of inspiring women, including members of her own staff, their patients and the community who have overcome illness or achieved extraordinary feats.

The podcast does generate business directly: “I’ve had a lot of people tell me, I heard your podcast and it made me want to come into your spot,” Carrie says.

But the real point is to re-enforce her clinic’s positioning as a place that empowers women.

“It’s highlighting the culture that we create in our business. The intent is to inspire, empower women and share with them the experience that we have every day...

“Even though it’s a retail business, it’s a people-first business, and people are buying relationships. If you build a space where women want to be, then they will be loyal to you. They’ll come back.”

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Carrie Brinton: How to use a podcast to build your clinic’s brand

12. Recruit staff who have experience in other industries?

There’s a classic tension in aesthetics between the medical providers, who are trained not to be salesy and often find it anathema, and the need to run a profitable business.

“The things that make a business successful - setting targets and financial expectations - is the very thing that drives the staff away,” says Deb Farnworth-Wood, owner of Ultimate Skin & Body Clinic on Australia’s Gold Coast, and former owner of Australian Skin Clinics, a AUD$70m franchise.

Her solution? Recruit staff who have experience of commercial organizations in other industries.

“They understand targets and KPIs,” she says.

And, she adds, because they have more life experience, they are more likely to be able to connect to patients and to communicate with them confidently.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Deb Farnworth-Wood: How to turn your clinic into a $70 million franchise

13. Consider selling your practice to grow faster

Most clinic owners consider selling their practice only towards the end of their career. For Dr Erum Ilyas in Pennsylvania - who had built up a thriving chain of 3 clinics - it became an attractive option mid-career.

“I was looking to expand, but I felt as though I couldn’t do that without better infrastructure. And when I looked at the options, a merger made the most sense because the infrastructure was already in place to continue my brand.”

She eventually sold her practices to Schweiger Dermatology Group, staying on as an employee. Within a couple of months she had two staff members participate in Schweiger’s physician’s assistant program and a MOHS surgeon joined their team.

“The ability to just bring them these people in and give them the resources they need to continue to grow - it’s remarkable to me how quickly it’s happening.”

As the healthcare industry becomes more complicated, she says others should be open to a similar arrangement.

“When you start off on your own, you’re doing your own thing. You get very busy and you need help so you add in another doctor. It seems like a simple progression but every single physician you bring in adds in another layer of needs.

“It’s a matter of recognizing at some point that these business and admin needs may not be something you’d like to take on personally. If your goal is to get bigger, don’t shy away from this type of process simply because it’s not traditional.”

?LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW: Dr Erum Ilyas: Merging your aesthetic clinic successfully

For 22 more out-of-the-box insights into how to scale your aesthetic clinic, grab the FULL guide! Click here to get your free copy now.

Miriam Shaviv is director of Brainstorm Digital, which uses Aesthetic Immersion Marketing to keep aesthetic clinics and medspas busy with their most profitable treatments - whilst building strong relationships with their patients.

To find out more about the 4 pillars of the Aesthetic Immersion Marketing, click here now.

Miriam is also host of "How I Scaled My Aesthetic Clinic", the podcast where leading owners of aesthetic clinics and medspas discuss their journey to success and the tactics they used to grow their practices.

Check out all the latest episodes here.