As a practice management consultant and sales performance coach in the aesthetic space, I speak all over the country. And regardless of location, I tend to receive the same questions from staff and practitioners time and time again:
• Why are we not growing as fast or generating as much revenue as we would like?
• How come our schedules are not full?
• What reports should I run?
• Why isn’t my website generating any leads?
All of these are very valid questions. In fact, I asked myself the very same questions when I was hired by Lasky Aesthetics & Laser Center in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2012. I started by creating a comprehensive process to analyze the entire business from the ground up, and I was ultimately able to make bold recommendations that resulted in an incredible turn around and generated more than $600,000 of additional revenue in one year.
So, how did I do it? I realized that data doesn’t lie. It is factual; therefore, I knew I needed to take a good hard look at the data and figure out where the gaps existed. Then, I had to identify the opportunities for growth. Most importantly, I had to take action and make the investment into the business.
Getting a clear picture
My clients consider my Practice Assessment to be the ultimate “X-ray” tool to reveal missing revenue and growth opportunities.
The Practice Assessment is a robust, 17-page tool (your homework) that asks comprehensive, probing questions and requires you to provide meticulous details about your business. Those who have completed a Practice Assessment find it to be an enlightening exercise. I use this assessment to help me evaluate every area of your practice, including:
• Revenue sources and goals
• Facility and overhead costs
• Services offered and profitability
• Equipment
• Analysis of strengths and weaknesses
• Patient retention
• Lead generation sources and follow up
• Consultations and conversion rates
• Operations
• Marketing
• Website & SEO
• Information technology
• Human resources
Once you complete the Practice Assessment, I will analyze the information and provide you with a high-level summary report of concrete actionable steps. You will receive my expert recommendations – based on years of experience – that if implemented will turn your business around (learn more here).
While I highly recommend you investing the time and resources into completing this detail-oriented assessment to achieve concrete results, the following is an overview of how to get started gathering the necessary information to perform a self-evaluation.
Getting started on your practice x-ray
Before you can accurately find the gaps in your practice and identify areas to improve, you must have data to analyze. Money is an important conversation, and knowing your money “facts” and bottom line is critical to future growth.
Gather what you can from your patient management software, your profit & loss statements, along with any and all sales or marketing related information you have access to.
These sample questions from the Practice Assessment will help you get started!
• What is your previous year’s revenue? Your current revenue? Your retail revenue? Your current goals?
• What treatments are most profitable? And how much revenue does each one generate?
• What services do you offer (surgical and nonsurgical)? How many appointments have you booked for each type this month, quarter or year?
• What is your consultation conversion ratio?
Does anything jump out at you so far? Next, let’s focus on leads coming in.
• How many leads does your website generate per month, if any?
• Do you have a process in place for following up on leads?
• What percentage of leads convert to consultations?
Now let’s move on to marketing and technology.
• What kind of marketing are you doing and are you measuring results?
• How often do you communicate with your patients?
• What kind of patient management software are you using?
• What kind of KPIs do you measure?
Finally, consider your staff.
• How many staff members do you currently employ?
• Have they been trained in sales, consultations and customer service? If not, how do you know if they are doing a good job?
Interpreting your practice x-ray results
Based on the breakdown of your revenue and expenditures, you might need to shift to higher revenue generating treatments, increase your pricing and evaluate your staff and their skill set. Hire more or reduce your staff, incorporate long-term treatment plans and increase marketing spend.
You might need to revamp your website (ask yourself, is it dynamic and producing hundreds of leads per month?) and establish a better follow up system for tracking leads. You most likely need to invest in expert sales training for your staff so that you feel confident in their ability to do their job successfully.
Now that you know what types of questions to begin to ask yourself and what information is needed to get an accurate assessment, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed.
I am here to support you, so if you need help bridging the gaps in your practice, improving the patient experience, converting more patients into paid services and generating more revenue, or if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out: terri@terriross.com.
About the author
Terri Ross
Terri's experience as a sales director managing upwards of $20 million in revenue and successful teams has allowed her to become an internationally renowned practice management consultant, helping aesthetic practices thrive. Terri’s professional associations span across a variety of therapeutic specialties such as plastic surgery, dermatology, oncology, endocrinology, and cardiology–giving her a global perspective in medicine and a deep understanding of the business structure needed to position practices for success. She has achieved multiple awards and is a recognized leader in the aesthetics field.