Turning One-Time Patients Into Lifelong Fans — with Catherine Maley, MBA (Ep. 288)

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Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where you'll learn my proven method of turning one-time patients into lifelong fans. Additionally, we'll discuss the general business and marketing side of plastic surgery.

As always, I'm your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." I'm also a consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more profits.

Presenting today’s episode titled, "Turning One-Time Patients Into Lifelong Fans — with Catherine Maley, MBA."    

Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we’ll discuss functional cash pay in Mexico. Additionally, we’ll discuss the general business and marketing side of plastic surgery.

As always, I’m your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." Furthermore, I’m also a consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more profits.

Presenting today’s episode titled, “Functional Cash Pay in Mexico — with Dr. Gabriel Garza Martínez.”    

Hello, and welcome to "Beauty and the Biz," where we’ll discuss functional cash pay in Mexico. Additionally, we’ll discuss the general business and marketing side of plastic surgery.

As always, I’m your host, Catherine Maley, author of "Your Aesthetic Practice – What Your Patients Are Saying." Furthermore, I’m also a consultant to plastic surgeons, helping them get more patients and more profits.

Presenting today’s episode titled, “Functional Cash Pay in Mexico — with Dr. Gabriel Garza Martínez.”

So let me ask you a question….

Have you ever wondered why some patients don’t come back after their first treatment? Or why others become your best ambassadors, returning again and again while referring their friends and family? The difference comes down to how well you nurture the patient relationship.

So, in this episode, you’ll discover why patient retention matters, the psychology behind loyalty, and actionable strategies to keep your patients engaged. Plus, I’ll introduce you to the KiSS Loyalty Rewards Club, a powerful tool to help you transform patient relationships and grow your practice from the inside out. So let’s get started.

Let’s start with Why Patient Retention is the Key to Growth

Plastic surgeons often spend the bulk of their marketing budget on attracting new patients. While bringing in new patients is important, focusing solely on acquisition can leave your practice vulnerable.

Here’s why retention is so critical:

• You’ll get a Higher ROI because Retaining a patient costs far less than acquiring a new one. Studies show that attracting a new patient to your practice costs 7–12 times more than keeping an existing one, and
• Loyal Patients Spend More: On average, repeat patients spend 67% more than first-time patients because they’re more likely to consider additional treatments and trust you with higher-ticket services, and
• Referrals Come from Loyalty: Patients who love you and your practice will naturally refer others, saving you money on advertising.

But If your practice focuses only on new patient acquisition and neglects retention, you’re constantly filling a leaky bucket. By plugging that leak, you create a steady, predictable stream of revenue.

Now let’s talk about the cosmetic Patient Lifecycle

To turn one-time patients into loyal fans, it helps to understand their decision-making journey:

1. First, there’s Awareness: The patient learns about your practice through marketing, referrals, or word of mouth.
2. Then it’s the First Visit: They book their first appointment, often for a consultation or a smaller, non-surgical treatment.
3. Then, there’s the Post-Treatment or consult Phase: This is the critical moment when patients decide whether they’ll return or shop around for other options.
4. And lastly, there’s the Long-Term Relationship because with the right nurturing, patients become loyal advocates for your practice.

But here’s The Problem: Many practices focus heavily on the first two stages—awareness and acquisition—but fail to invest in the post-treatment or consult phase. This is where loyalty is built or lost.

So, the Key Question to Ask is: What happens after your patient leaves your office? Are you staying connected, or are you letting them drift away?

So, let’s back up. Why don’t Patients Return to your practice?

If patients don’t come back, it’s rarely because they’ve stopped wanting cosmetic rejuvenation. They just stopped wanting it from you – sorry.

So often you lost them for preventable issues such as:

• Indifferent Staff: Patients value how they’re treated. A lack of warmth or attentiveness can leave a lasting negative impression.
• Inconsistent Experiences: If they have a quality patient experience one time and a completely different experience the next time, patients lose trust.
• Then, there’s Poor Follow-Up: Patients need to feel cared for. A lack of follow-up communication can make them feel forgotten and insignificant and antoher really big reason patients don’t return to you is because .
• There’s No Connection: If your practice feels transactional rather than personal, patients won’t feel a bond strong enough to return.
•  

Here is a common real-life example: Imagine a first-time Botox patient who is thrilled with their results but doesn’t hear from your practice afterward. Over time, they forget about you and are lured away by a competitor’s ad or email. This could have been avoided with a simple follow-up email, text, or phone call checking in with the Botox patient to be sure they’re satisfied with their result and mentioning other treatments they might also like.

Because here’s The Psychology of cosmetic patient Loyalty …

Loyalty isn’t just about delivering great results—it’s about how you make your patients feel. Here are the emotional drivers of loyalty:

• Trust: Patients need to feel confident in your expertise and your team’s professionalism.
• Connection: A personal relationship creates a sense of belonging.
• Recognition: Patients love to feel appreciated and rewarded for their loyalty.

Think about what it feels like to cater to a complete stranger prospective patient who found you on the Internet and is skeptical and apprehensive vs. a current patient who knows, likes and trusts you?  It’s night and day.

Wouldn’t you rather work with patients who already trust you than those who are skeptical because they have no idea who you are?

So, let’s talk about Actionable Strategies to Build Loyalty by creating an exceptional patient experience:

First, Nail the First Impression

• Greet every patient warmly. A friendly smile and genuine interest go a long way.
• Offer a small welcome gift, such as a skincare sample or your branded bottled water to make them feel special.
• Then see them on time so they see that you respect their time. This also ensures their consultation is unhurried, so schedule enough time to address their specific concerns.

And, Make Every Visit Memorable

• Your team must be consistently friendly, professional, and attentive.
• Create a comfortable environment with thoughtful touches like coffee, tea, and relaxing music.
• Thank patients for choosing your practice at the end of every visit.

Then, Stay Connected After Their Visit

• Follow-Up Calls and text: Check in with patients after their treatment to see how they’re doing.
• Email Campaigns: Send regular updates about what’s new in your practice and  patient success stories.
• And use Social Media posting to share educational and entertaining content to keep patients engaged between visits.

1. Now you want to Encourage Referrals and Reviews

• Set up a referral program to reward patients who bring in friends or family.
• Ask happy patients to leave reviews on Google and social media.

  By the way, you don’t want to pay patients for referrals and reviews but you do want to acknowledge and reward your patients for growing your practice organically and I’ll show you how in a minute.

1. Then be sure your staff know how to Cross-Sell Services

• The easiest way to promote other services without being pushy is with strategic in-house signage such as Displaying before-and-after photos and educational videos throughout your practice to encourage visiting patients to ask you about it.

1. and lastly, Listen to Patient Feedback

• Let patients know their opinion matters, by sending them a survey for their feedback and suggestions to gather insights into what your patients love and what you can improve on.

Now, let’s talk about a tool that makes patient retention easy, rewarding and ethical:

It’s called the KiSS Loyalty Club.

It’s a customizable program designed to keep your patients engaged with your practice by rewarding them for their loyalty.

Here’s How it Works:

1. Patients earn 1 KiSS for every $1 they spend in your practice.
2. They are awarded Bonus KiSSes for:
   • Referring their friends
   • Giving you a Google review
   • Approving the use of their before-and-after photos.
   • Sharing you on their social media channels
   • And completing surgery
3. Patients then redeem KiSSes for free treatment tiers for Botox, fillers, or laser services.

So, Why does this Work:

• It’s Simple: Patients understand it easily and get excited about earning rewards and staff also appreciate it’s simplicity.
• It’s Engaging: The more patients interact with your practice, the more KiSSes they earn.
• And It Builds Loyalty: Patients are motivated to return more often, refer, and leave reviews and it’s a differentiator since patients can only redeem KiSSes at your practice so it locks out your competitors.

1. Here’s a Real-Life Success Story

One plastic surgeon in New Jersey implemented the KiSS Loyalty Club and saw the following results within six months:

• A 30% increase in patient retention.
• A 50% increase in referrals.
• A significant reduction in advertising costs, as loyal patients began driving new business.

Quote from the Surgeon: “Our patients love earning KiSSes! It’s given them an extra reason to stay loyal and spread the word about our practice. Plus, it’s easy for our staff to manage, which is a big win.”

And patient Retention isn’t just about keeping patients happy—it’s about maximizing your practice’s profitability.

Instead of discounting your services and hurting your brand, you are investing in your patient’s loyalty by offering free services after they invest in your practice. The profits margins are 8X-20X your hard costs so this is a win-win for everyone.

Here are Key Metrics to Consider:

• If your practice has 1,500 active patients and their average value is $500 and you increase repeat visits by just 15% and 5% more referrals and 10% more retention, that’s an extra $225,000 per year and we did that without discounting or advertising.

If this makes sense to you, please visit www.kissloyaltyclub.com for all the details

To wrap this up, I want to reiterate that Loyalty is the foundation of a thriving cosmetic practice.

By turning one-time patients into lifelong fans, you not only grow your revenue but also create a community of patients who know, like, and trust you. The KiSS Loyalty Club is the perfect tool to make that happen so please head over to www.kissloyaltyclub.com and don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your colleagues. I’ll see you next time!"

Enjoy!

Catherine Maley, MBA

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Catherine Maley, MBA:

Everybody that’s going to wrap it up for us today on Beauty and the Biz.

If you have any questions or feedback for me, you can go ahead and leave them at my website at www.CatherineMaley.com, or you can certainly DM me on Instagram @CatherineMaleyMBA.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode on Beauty and the Biz, please head over to Apple Podcasts and give me a review and subscribe to Beauty and the Biz so, you don’t miss any episodes. And of course, please share this with your staff and colleagues.

And we will talk to you again soon. Take care.

"The fastest way to success is to model other successful surgeons who have what you want, but you can only see their results, not the path they took to get there.

So, you continue to jump from one thing to another, hoping to find something that will work for you too, but it rarely does. So, try this shortcut instead. It’s guaranteed to move you forward. I compiled my intellectual property to grow cosmetic revenues, everything I’ve gleaned over the years into one playbook of the most successful practices and what they do to win.

Go to www.CosmeticPracticeVault.com and let’s grow your cosmetic revenue."

 

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