HealthCert Blog

We talked to Jonathan Carroll from Aesthetic Business Results about three problems GPs face when adding or expanding aesthetic treatments in their practice.

Problem 1: Struggling to speak to patients about aesthetic treatments during a GP consult.

Not many patients book a GP consult to talk about their ageing skin. A lack of opportunity to speak about the aesthetic treatments offered in their practice is a major reason why many GPs are not currently doing consistent volume with their aesthetic treatments.

Solution: A big bonus for medical practices is that they usually have a large database and high foot traffic of new and regular patients every day. This presents an ideal opportunity for marketing the practice’s aesthetic treatments outside of the consult. Patients can learn about the services from the receptionists, brochures or posters inside the waiting room, occasional emails, or other points of contact. Patients are then prompted to ask the doctor about these services during their consult.

Problem 2: Trying to compete with local beauty clinics.

Solution: Medical practices have a huge advantage over beauty and cosmetic clinics: they are delivering doctor-led treatments from a medical approach with a strong medical background! This means that GPs can communicate their services in an educational way and utilise their medical practice database in addition to the standard promotional avenues that beauty chains use, such as Google, Facebook and flyer drops. This markets the new services to patients who are familiar with the practice and already have a sense of loyalty and trust.

Problem 3: Not building effective marketing channels.

Many medical practices fall into the trap of “if I build it, they will come”. Just adding anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers to the practice services will not usually result in a steady flow of patients for aesthetic treatments, especially if patients don’t know about it.