Personal Branding For Medical Spa Physicians

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By Ashley Wendel

Only if you want to stand out from the crowd, and successfully build your reputation and patient base.

I have the pleasure of going to Chicago in few weeks to attend the Society of Interventional Radiology's annual scientific sessions, and to help facilitate a workshop for physicians on marketing.  While I know that "marketing" is not a new concept to most, the point I'm going to be making about how they, the physician, are the most integral part of the marketing equation, may be.  Shifting their perspective from only looking at what they do, to who they are and how they do things, may be a challenge.  But for docs who (perhaps for the first time) are recognizing the increased competition in the marketplace and the need for marketing to "keep up", it is a message they need to hear.

And why should they care?  Why worry about "brand"?  If you think about your overall goal as a professional, it truly is about growth.  For my IR crowd the bottom line is about leveling the playing field with other docs/specialties that have been marketing themselves longer and have a much higher comfort level with it.  It is about increasing referrals, increasing the number of desireable procedures that the IR docs perform, and establishing a solid patient base for future referrals and procedures.  For anyone, it is about developing a reputation that makes people want to work with you, that allows them to trust you, and gives them an expectation of quality and delivery that meets their unique needs. Creating your brand helps you do this.  And I'll tell you why.

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Medical Spa Consultants in NYC

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Spa NYC is looking to open a Medical Spa and has talked to some Medical Spa Consultants.

We are looking into opening a medical spa. We are physicians, general practititoners, and have spoken to several consultants who would provide assistance to do the business planning, financial proformas, operating procedures, assist in hiring staff, marketing, equipment recommendations, space planning, info systems recommendations, web site development, etc.

We are located in the greater NY metropolitan area. anyone use a consultant they would recommend, or is it even worthwhile to do so?

And here's my response:

Beware. The vast majority of medical spa consultants are less than worthless in my opinion. Thre are only two that I've ever recommended and they both specialize in a specific niche.

Physicians are, as a rule, intelligent, but they think that because they're intelligent that they'll be able to 'think their way through' a problem. That's not generally the rule. Physicians have a reputation for being poor at business and there's reason enough for that.

The real cost of poor medical spa consultants is that they waste your time and distract you with irrelevant things like proformas statements and excel worksheets that project your earnings. Useless. Of the dozens of clinics I've been involved in and the millions of dollars spent and made, I've yet to see one single medical spa business plan that was worth a piss in the wind.

My advice is this. Go slow. The market isn't going to be kind to those who make mistakes and you can easily spend a couple of hundred thousand dollars in a bloodbath education. Just ask the myriad of physicians who regularly frequent this site. Go slow. Go slow. Go slow. Spreadsheets are worse than useless as are business plans. I've written dozens and they're used to give a sense of security where there is none.

Choosing technology? Note this sentence from Susan DeGuide MDs testimonial on joining Medical Spa MD: "I would not buy a new piece of equipment now without first consulting Medical Spa MD".

Post a question about the technology you're investigating and you'll receive responses and possibly an offer to talk by the physicians who are using it. If you don't take advantage of this resource you're too stupid to be practicing medicine. (Getting off on a little bit of a rant there... sorry.)

If you're looking for someone to build your medical spa for you so you can just step in, work 40 hours a week, and own everything, you've already lost. Cosmetic medicine is an entirely new area for most non-core docs and there's a learning curve. Don't get ahead of it. The greatest thing about Medical Spa MD is that you're able to find and network with physicians who are not your direct competition and are willing to help. Take advantage of it.

If you have some advice for a physician group in NYC that's opening a Medical Spa, help them out here or in the forums.