Ready to Relaunch Your Practice? 10 Things to Consider

The good news – your patients are ready, willing and anxious for your practice to reopen.  The not-so good news – timelines and guidelines aren’t solidified and vary greatly by state and even county within states.  There is much that can be done however right now.  In preparing for a safe, successful and strong “relaunch”, here are some beneficial and impactful items to consider.

1. Thoughtful Appointment Booking

• Make VIP clients feel special by offering them the first option to book their appointments!  They will thank you for thinking of them and reward you with booking a much anticipated treatment (or two).
• Promote seasonal treatments along with those that will be best received ‘post-COVID’ (think Skinwave, Laser Hair Removal, etc.)
• Offer extended hours upon relaunching your practice, to accommodate pent up demand and potential patient overflow.

2. Offer Secure Virtual Consultations / Follow-Up Appts –

• To streamline the process and maximize distancing and confidence, offer initial consultations virtually. Not sure how to get started? There are many, great options out there.   Many existing EMRs already have features integrated so make sure to check those out first.  Otherwise, consider platforms like TouchMD, Doxy.com, AestheticRecord, etc. Keep in mind, these are just a few great resources that come to mind immediately for helping you and your team remain HIPPA compliant.  It’s important to take some time to uncover the one that will fit your practice and patients best. 
• Take your Virtual Consultation service to the next level by offering follow-up appointments as well.  See how patients are recovering from treatments, answer questions and talk about their next appointment. Patients will appreciate the in-depth check-in versus a simple phone call!

3. Maintain Social Media Momentum

• During this unusual time, many have been able to shift efforts and ramp up their social momentum.  Don’t let planning to reopen affect that momentum.  Continue to utilize content calendars and social media scheduling tools to help you maintain your amazing efforts.  If needed, make it a team effort and assign a few people to tackle new content to stay top of mind and let your patients know how much they are missed. Continue to provide them with the information and valuable education through social media. Do a lot of your patients struggle with acne? Take to Instagram Live to answer questions and offer them tips on keeping their skin clear and what post-quarantine treatments they should consider first. Maybe you’re still getting a lot of questions about at-home skin care – record a video of you or a member of your team sharing their at home skincare routine. These resources are well received and provide patients with the content and information that they are looking for.

4. Expand Offerings

• Have a gap in skincare offerings that you have been looking to fill?  Now is the perfect time to do some research and make some choices. Consider combo treatments! This can be done by combining treatments and creating packages that meet a specific patient need. For example, RF Microneedling may be a staple in your practice, but you want to increase appointments with your new aqua delivery facial. Combining these therapies and branding them together will not only attract new appointments and patients, it will increase the revenue and satisfaction per patient.

5. Easily Accessible (and rewarding) Online Store

• Don’t have an online store yet? Now is an ideal time to research how implementing this into your practice can continue to increase revenue now and when you reopen. Again, there are many great options like Shopify which makes creating and launching an online storefront easy.  Make sure you actively promote your online store on social and the homepage of your website.  If it’s the initial launch, you might consider running a few specials to increase visibility – for example ‘Share with a Friend get XXX’ or ‘purchase $75 and Shipping’s On Us’ and countless other options!

6. Plan Events Differently

• Consider doing the upfront work now before committing to a date. This might include creating an event checklist or cleaning up your invite list. Don’t want to wait for your doors to reopen? Host a virtual event and get creative – are you quarantined with someone who’d like to be your patient for a live demonstration? Do you usually offer samples to event attendees? Offer pre-event registration and mail each of your attendees samples to use during your virtual event. This will increase event interaction and can be fun and exciting for both you and your patients.

7. Orchestrate New Patient Processing Measures

• Take the time to think through what process changes you can implement upon reopening in response to social distancing guidelines.  For example, perhaps patients text when they arrive and wait in their car vs. the waiting room?  Schedule time in between patients to sterilize the treatment room using new technology  or manually. To address this need, Cartessa Aesthetics has launched the all new AltaUV. AltaUV is a hospital grade UVC mobile tower that kills 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, germs, and micro-organisms in a quick flash cycle.  The stainless steel construction, high grade UVC lamps and 360 degree motion sensors for automatic shut-off make it the safest, most effective device in the space.  To learn more about the AltaUV visit https://www.cartessaaesthetics.com/altauv.
• Consider texting or emailing clients PRIOR to their visit about what, exactly they can expect – from start to finish!
• Go paperless!  This creates one less point of contact. If your practice paperwork isn’t already available online, then make this a top priority.  Paperwork can easily be completed from home OR from their cell phone in their car upon arrival
• Outline what your staff will be doing during visits and in-between visits to maintain patients’ safety.  For example, when should full face shields be worn and when deep sanitizing will take place.
• Consider contact free payments – via chip readers for credit cards or online payment processing from their cell phones.

8. Optimize your Digital Resources including Video

• Dedicate a specific area of your website to a Resource Center for valuable information, tips and tricks
• Consider video tutorials that address frequently asked questions and support product sales.  For example, the first question patients ask before or after their skincare treatments is ‘What should my skincare routine include and look like post treatment?’ Send a quick text with a video tutorial versus a printed document they may lose or simply leave behind.  Offer video tutorials on best skincare routines to boost product sales and adherence (and these videos can be repurposed for your website and social channels!)

9. Take Time to Educate

• Many companies like Cartessa Aesthetics, are offering online webinars, seminars and training for their providers and teams. Check out Cartessa’s Online Resource center here: https://www.cartessaaesthetics.com/virtual-resource-center. If you haven’t taken advantage of these events, now may the time to do so before the team is focused on running a busy practice.  Ensure that there are no weak points in your practice, and that all staff members are able to either perform or describe services and benefits of services to patients.

10. Implement a Loyalty Program

• Show your patients that you value their support through this crisis and beyond by implementing a rewards or loyalty program. These programs help strengthen relationships with current patients, builds loyalty and offers existing patients a way to refer you new patients! 

The team at Cartessa Aesthetics is here for you – reach out at any time to talk about your business, your concerns and your long-term goals.

For more information on ways to better your practice, or to learn more about Cartessa Aesthetics, visit www.cartessaaesthetics.com.