The way you talk to your patients about the products and services you offer should be based on providing the solutions they are looking for. To successfully sell skincare, be it products or services, you have to think like the patient who will be using them. The following tips will help not only increase your sales but offer a more personalized approach to the patient.
- Develop a Practice Wide System
Patients are looking to you as the experts. If you develop a practice wide system, then all patients are receiving the exact same advice and suggestions regardless of who they speak to. By using the same set of questions to determine skin types, you will be able to diagnose and treat patients more consistently and efficiently.
- Innovate
Aside from trending products, patients are continuously looking for new and simpler skincare products and services. Pay close attention to the industry and your competition to ensure you are offering whatever the most popular treatment of the moment is. When something goes viral or a celebrity posts about it, soon everyone is looking for the exact same skincare. At the same time, you know the needs of your patient. Make sure you and your staff are educated on what you offer and, if you can, provide them with something a little different.
- Market Benefits and Solutions Not Products
It has long been known that the benefits aspect is the one that patients are after—they are looking for results. Providing specific information is more appealing (e.g. the time and frequency of use to achieve the desired effect) than general advice. Not only are patients beauty-conscious, but they are health-conscious as well so don’t hesitate to profoundly state the benefits of each of the ingredients (product) or each step of the procedure (service).
- Advertise
While word-of-mouth, audiovisual and print advertisements are good, online advertisements have a better audience reach, which practices are usually too busy to consider. In order for your practice to be found when patients use a search engine, you need to have a strategy to manage your online presence. Many practices are outsourcing this to an SEM (search engine marketing) manager who develops strategies to increase your practice’s online presence.
- Go Organic
Not only is it good for mother earth, but it is also good for your practice as many people are now living (or trying to live) conscientiously. More awareness campaigns are instilling the use of eco-friendly, sustainably-sourced, organic, ethical, and cruelty-free products. And since most people are becoming aware of what they put on or in their bodies, they follow this trend.
Bottom line is you need to know your patients and know that your patient base is ever changing. Traditionally, skincare only catered to the female population, but the male population is now sharing the skincare market, which means you might be seeing more men being referred as patients. Having a growing market signals dermatology practices can diversify to build a profitable business. Just be sure to follow through and provide the solutions you are offering.
