Predictable Income for Plastic Surgeons

Predictable income for plastic surgeons is NOT a pipe dream.

The goal is to know that you can count on consistent and reliable income without the roller coaster income and sleepless nights.

So how do you make that happen?

Here is the answer and I hope you will listen to this…

Better patient experiences help you earn more predictable revenue because your patients like you and how you make them feel.

LOWER PATIENT ACQUISITION COSTS
A good patient experience can lead to a 1.3X to 2.4X increase in revenue per patient.

So if the average value of a patient to you is $5,000, you can increase it from $6,500 to $12,000.

And, with that influx of revenue, you can reduce your patient acquisition and advertising costs by 3-10x.

Therefore, you earn more and spend less in the process.

increase prices
When it comes to predictable income for plastic surgeons, price comes into play.

Here’s an interesting stat from Scalable.com…

“64% of patients who have had good customer experiences are willing to pay 18% more on average.”

It is not true? I know I have and I’m sure you paid more because paying more saved you time, money, hassle and you felt good about the result and experience from him.

The secret is to change your mindset, team, and processes to serve those patients who care more about their relationship and experience with you than saving money.

Patient Retention Impacts Profits
Customer experience also affects retention, affecting your profit and valuation by an average of 2.75X.

So if your revenue is $1 million per year, it could be $2.75 million if you simply retain patients who already know, like and trust you.

By the way, 40% of patients who leave and don’t come back say it’s because of their bad experience as a patient. That is significant.

References are important when it comes to predictable income for plastic surgeons
References
And then in terms of referrals, they directly affect your revenue because good patient experiences have been shown to increase referrals by 9X on average, while poor patient experiences tend to decrease referrals and revenue by about 16X. . WOW!

These are very significant changes that affect the growth and health of your practice.

Example in terms of real numbers:
Let’s say you spend $100K per year on patient acquisition and improving the patient experience, so they come back and refer their friends. Now you can reduce that expense by up to 67% to just $33,000 per year.

That means you’ll lower costs and increase profits directly because lowering your customer acquisition cost helps your bottom line. You no longer have that huge expense. That expense will disappear by $67K.

Now for revenue, having an 18% price increase (because you’re serving patients who pay more for good customer service) gives you an extra boost in revenue. So $1MM becomes $1.18MM or an extra $180,000.

Now for retention, let’s say you increase a patient’s lifetime value from $5K to $10K, which will directly increase your earnings. If you only do that for 100 patients per year (out of the thousands you normally have in your database), that’s 100 x $5K extra or $500K.

And then in terms of your referrals going up nine times (per scalable.com), let’s say on average you get 50 referrals per year, which goes up to 450 referrals per year. Even if a newly referred patient is only worth $1K that first year, that’s still an additional $450K.

So when we look at the total benefits of simply upping the game on your patient experience, we’re talking about significant increases in revenue.

Because the annual cumulative effect of:

$33K savings on patient acquisition advertising costs
Earn an extra $180K by increasing your price
Increase your retention and the average lifetime value of a patient is an additional $500K
And additional referrals are at least another $450K

That’s an extra $1,097,000.

The point is… the impact of something that seems as intangible as having a good customer experience can be very dramatic.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREDICTABLE INCOME FOR PLASTIC SURGEONS
Meet with your team for the sole purpose of dissecting the entire patient experience from start to finish to find ways to make your experience more comfortable and memorable.

Start with the initial contact the patient has with your practice.

What happens when someone calls your office or subscribes to your website form or sends you a private message on social media?

So if they scheduled an appointment, how easy was it?

How was the previous appointment or the consultation?
Did they receive a welcome pack, email, or video explaining what to expect from their visit?
Was the paperwork process as painless as possible?
Did you send them appointment reminders, etc.?

So what is your initial visit like?

Are they greeted by super friendly staff who make them feel welcome and comfortable?
Do you see them on time or do you make them wait?
Does your internal signage and imagery subtly educate them about everything you offer so you never hear them say, “I didn’t know you did that”?
And that? What is the next step to examine?

If they came for a non-surgical tx, what is the process before, during and after their treatment?

Or, if they came for a surgical consultation, what is the process before meeting the surgeon, during the consultation, and after?

How do you introduce quotes and help them make a decision?
So how do you follow up when they don’t book a surgical procedure or when they do book a surgical procedure?
How is the pre and postoperative process so that the patient feels cared for and comfortable.

Also, what are your processes for:

consent patient
before/after photos
References
Online reviews, etc.

It’s this kind of detail that sets you apart from your competitors, attracts a more sophisticated patient, and allows you to charge more.