Client Retention is Critical for Your Aesthetic Clinic to Thrive

In these increasingly challenging times client retention is becoming more important than ever.

The sector is under increasing pressure at the moment. What is already an increasingly competitive market is now experiencing the additional pressures being brought on by the current economic challenges. In a climate where treatment cancellations are increasing, repeat bookings are slowing and several clients are extending the time they go between treatments, you need to ensure that you are being as proactive as possible.

It’s estimated that patient retention in the aesthetics sector sits around 50%, which is possibly much lower than you thought it would be. Ideally, retention rates should be at least 65%, if you’re not sure where yours sits I’d recommend you take a careful look at your database to carefully check – can I also suggest you make this a priority?

If you’ve recently reviewed your statistics ask yourself if you’re OK with what you are seeing or if are you feeling concerned, even maybe a little shocked.

If there’s room for improvement it’s time to take action.

Consider implementing outbound calls to clients who are due, or are overdue treatment, having valuable conversations to ensure you retain as many as possible. These outbound calls to clients and patients can be equally as important as calls coming into a clinic. For several years here at AR we’ve run highly successful outbound call campaigns on behalf of clients, re-engaging with lapsed patients. As a guideline, we consider anyone who is overdue their treatment by at least 6 weeks as lapsed, whilst clients overdue their appointment by 2-6 weeks are considered to be a ‘delayed returner’.

So how do these unique outbound campaigns work for our clients?

When one of our practitioners approaches us with a list of lapsed patients to contact, we ensure that we’ve as much information as possible so that we can establish a rapport when they initially answer the phone- this is normally done through revisiting their patient profile on the clinic’s CRM system. This is paramount to the success of these campaigns as we don’t want these clients to feel as though they receive a ‘cold call’. It also helps to be armed with an offer, such as complementary products, a facial treatment or a discount as the basis of the call.

Once a rapport has been built, the kind of questions that we pose to lapsed patients include:

• “How did you find the treatment experience?”
• “Have you gone somewhere else for treatment recently?”
• “What are your specific recollections of your last clinic visit?”
• “How comfortable were you with XXX, your practitioner?”

These questions encourage an open discussion between our Patient Advisor and the lapsed client to gain a real insight into their specific reasons for not returning.

The feedback that we have received over several years and from various clinics makes it clear that a common reason for patients to lapse stems from personal financial issues. We hear that patients view aesthetic treatments as a ‘luxury’ or a ‘guilty pleasure’, so they reduce their treatments to the bottom of their priorities when their financial situation changes.

Often, lapsed patients are pleased with the clinic’s effort to call and they explain to us that they simply haven’t gotten around to rebooking because their busy life distracts them and allows them no time to themselves. These clients tend to book an appointment there and then on the phone, re-engaging fully with the clinic.

Treatment plans offered by clinics are a good way of retaining clients, as they guarantee their repeat attendance and help them to budget their finances.

There are of course clients who have been dissatisfied or disappointed with some aspect of their treatment. It is estimated that the majority of these lapsed patients won’t let you know why they’re unhappy with your service, so clear feedback can be really valuable as you aim to grow your practice. If you make mistakes along the way, it’s really useful to understand what they are so that you can address them moving forward. Staff need to have the skills to be able to gently probe the client if there has been dissatisfaction with the previous treatment experience. On a positive note, this is the perfect opportunity to gain vital feedback for the business to be able to move forward and develop. It is also an ideal time to explain any changes that have been made since the patient’s last visit and to affirm that the practitioner would be pleased to see them again.

Where the patient has since moved on to another clinic, this can provide an opportunity to learn what it is they were looking for in a clinic/practitioner, and to identify if there is a gap in your service provision.

From a busy practitioner’s perspective, the biggest obstacle in client retention can be finding the time to pick up the phone to speak directly with the client. As a dedicated enquiry management service, Aesthetic Response has the essential skills to effectively re-connect with lapsed clients. Our outcomes from these outbound calls are very positive, and we can successfully re-book roughly 20% of all the lapsed patients we call. At a time when new client enquiries are slowing down outbound campaigns can prove to be a highly valuable strategy.

About us: With over 13 years' experience, Aesthetic Response is the sector's leading provider of call handling and lead management services and was the first to offer dedicated aesthetic clinic support. We’ve used this extensive customer service experience to create online training for front-of-house clinic staff.

To find out more email clientservices@aestheticresponse.co.uk or call us on 0191 720 3000